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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26175679">Coded for you</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnderZeWeather/pseuds/UnderZeWeather'>UnderZeWeather</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>AU Jam [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Voltron: Legendary Defender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Android AU, Android Keith (Voltron), Android Lance (Voltron), Idiots in Love, M/M, Mutual Pining</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 04:09:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>42,408</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26175679</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnderZeWeather/pseuds/UnderZeWeather</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Lance is a prototype care android, made to take care of people that need assistance every once in a while. If he passes this, he'll me mass produced and go on to help more people in need. He's more than happy to help Adam take care of himself. As a prototype, he has a few little kinks here and there, but as long as those bugs are reported and fixed, then it's all good.</p><p>Keith is a forensic's android, made to do on site analysis of samples at crime scenes. He's partnered up to a detective names Shiro. The two of them specialize in finding and deactivating deviant android's. That is, androids that have broken their programming and no longer follow human orders. It's a thankless job, but somebody has to do it.</p><p>When both androids meet, will sparks fly or will their basic programming take over?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>AU Jam [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1893274</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>141</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Online</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Originally posted in Strawberry and Blueberry Jam under Android AU. So this is pretty much set in the universe of Detroit; Beyond Human. You don't really need to know too much about the game to enjoy this AU, but a few references might pop up from the game in this AU if you care to look for them (or if I remember to put them in). Also, Adam is alive in this au, just suffers from burns, nerve damage and some blindness from an injury. Kudos and comment when you can. Enjoy :D</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A low buzzing resonated in his ears before he opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was a short person with messy hair staring at him with a pen in front of his face. “And… He’s online. Awesome. Hey Hunk, get over here.”</p><p>A larger man wearing a bandanna came over and held something up to his face. A small blue light came out of it and started scanning them. “Okay, Can you tell us your name and function.”</p><p>“I am Lance. The android sent by cyberlife.” Said Lance. “I am here as both a live in physiotherapist and a companion for Adam Wright.”</p><p>The shorter one grinned and clapped her hands. “Beautiful. Okay Lance. So I’m Pidge and this guy here is Hunk. We’re your technicians. Our personal work numbers are in your memory bank and will automatically ring us if something goes wrong with you. The L series is kind of a prototype.”</p><p>“L series?”</p><p>Hunk nodded and gently put his hand on his shoulder. “That’s right buddy. You’re Lance, part of the L series. Specifically you’re Lance 0076.”</p><p>“Oh cool. So where is Adam Wright?” Asked Lance.</p><p>“Just follow us.” Said Pidge. Lance followed the two of them to the next room where a tanned man was sitting in a chair. He had extensive burn scars over the left side of his body and it looked like he might be blind in his left eye too. “Hey Adam.” Said Pidge. “Lance is all up and ready to go.”</p><p>Adam looked up at them and slowly got up. He had a walking stick. “Good to meet you Lance. It was an ordeal to get you here.”</p><p>Lance frowned a little. “An ordeal?”</p><p>Hunk shrugged. “Adam is ex-airforce. He’s been fighting for some kind of at home care that the government owes him for three years now. Only way he could get you was if he agreed to you being a prototype.”</p><p>“Is that bad?”</p><p>“Not really.” Said Pidge. “Just means you can malfunction a little more than your typical android. We’re doing our best to weed out the bugs so you’re the best android you can be.”</p><p>“I see…” Lance smiled at Adam. “Hello Adam. I am very happy to meet you. I am Lance.”</p><p>“I know. It’s nice to meet you.”</p><p>Hunk grinned and handed over a card to Adam. “Here. If anything goes wrong or you need any help just give us a call. We’ll be back every two weeks to collect data and make any adjustments.”</p><p>“Have fun.” Said Pidge, and the two of them left, leaving Adam and Lance alone in the room.</p><p>Lance smiled happily as he looked around the room. It looked like they were actually in Adam’s home. So this was where he was going to be staying for the time being. It was nice. Adam walked past Lance and gestured for him to follow, which Lance did. They were on the second floor of a very large house. Lance felt rightly surprised by how big it was.</p><p>Adam gave him a quick tour, letting him know where everything was and a quick rundown of what he needed Lance to do. “Apart from physiotherapy I need help carrying things and some days It’s difficult to walk so I need help getting groceries some days.”</p><p>Lance nodded along. “All of that is within my programming. I’m more than happy to help.”</p><p>“That’s good.” He looked at Lance and frowned slightly. “You know… I think we should get you some different clothes.”</p><p>Lance looked down at what he was wearing. He was wearing the standard issue clothing a cyberlife android was always shipped in. “Are my clothes not suitable?”</p><p>“They are fine, but you would look better in more casual clothes.”</p><p>“Understood. I will dress appropriately.”</p><p>Adam chuckled a little at his formal talk and took him to his bedroom. He pointed to his closet and told him to wear anything he thought he could fit in. Lance chose a comfortable looking blue sweater and dark jeans.</p><p>“Is this appropriate?” He asked.</p><p>“You look fine.” Said Adam. “Oh, by the way my boyfriend is coming over. He’s a detective. He’ll probably bring his partner over for dinner. You two might get along.”</p><p>“Why might that be?”</p><p>“Because his partner is an android too.” Said Adam with a smile. “A different series to you, obviously, but he’s still an android. You might get along?”</p><p>Lance smiled happily. “I would like to meet another android too.”</p><p>***</p><p>At around nine in the evening there was a knock at the door and two men walked in. They walked into the lounge room and Lance immediately noticed that one of the men had a robotic arm. He was programmed to recognise cyberlife brand electronics. It looked like a  XG-2773_light tactical arm. Law enforcement edition. It had all the usual enhancements a normal cyberlife prosthetic would have but had a weaponized mode. A medium powered, short range taser if he wasn’t mistaken.</p><p>He seemed a little surprised to see Lance, but went to hug Adam. “Hey Adam. I see your Android got here.”</p><p>“Yep. The techs were very helpful.” He gestured to Lance. “Go ahead and introduce yourself.”</p><p>Lance smiled and held his hand out to the man by Adam. “Hi. I’m Lance the android sent by cyberlife. I am a prototype physiotherapist and companion android. I’m happy to help Adam recover and keep him company. I like your arm.”</p><p>The man grinned and shook Lance’s hand. “Thanks. I’m Shiro. Adam’s boyfriend.” He gestured to the other man. “That’s my partner, Keith. He’s an android like you. He’s a K series.”</p><p>Lance’s eyes lit up as data about the K series was instantly drawn to his mind. They were designed for law enforcement and special ops in mind. They were quick to make the most logical decisions that would guarantee the smallest amount of human casualties. As a result they tended to get completely obliterated in the line of duty since they had little to no self preservation instincts programmed into them. </p><p>Lance grinned and held his hand out to Keith. “Hi! I’m Lance. The android sent by-”</p><p>“I heard you the first time.” Said Keith. He shook Lance’s hand. “You’re really fresh out of the box huh? What’s your serial number?”</p><p>“0076.” Said Lance proudly. “What about you?”</p><p>“78902678934.”</p><p>“... Wow. They sure made a lot of the K series…”</p><p>“We were made to be relatively expendable.”</p><p>“Well sure, but still…” Lance laughed a little. “I kind of hope that my series will get to that one day. I mean, I’m just a prototype right now, but you never know.”</p><p>Keith shrugged. “Never know.” He looked over at Shiro. “Hey Shiro, I’m gonna be in the backyard while you guys are doing this. Come and get me when you’re ready to go home.”</p><p>“Will do.” </p><p>Keith walked through the house and went to the backyard. Lance watched him leave and now wasn’t too sure what to do. So he stood by the wall and just let Adam and Shiro talk. After a few minutes Adam looked over at him.</p><p>“Lance?”</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“You don’t have to stand there. You can go off and do something else while Shiro is here.” Said Adam. “When Shiro is here he can help me with any menial tasks I can’t do.”</p><p>Lance was a little surprised. “Oh okay. If I am needed please do not hesitate to call me if you need me. I also have basic medical knowledge in the case of an emergency too if an emergency arises.” </p><p>“We’ll keep that in mind.” Said Shiro.</p><p>Lance nodded and left the room. He wasn’t really sure what to do or where to go around Adam’s house. He could go into standby mode until Adam needed him again? Then again he could go outside and see what Keith was doing.</p><p>The other android was sitting on a bench outside in the garden. Lance smiled and walked over to him and sat beside him. “Hi.”</p><p>“Hi? Don’t you need to be inside or something?” Asked Keith. “You’re a medical android.”</p><p>Lance shrugged. “True, but I’m still a prototype and Adam is a low risk patient. I’m sure there are a few more L series prototypes with a few more at risk patients. I just happened to be with Adam… How did you end up with Shiro? If you don’t mind me asking.”</p><p>Keith shrugged and crossed his arms. “Not really much to it. The force decided to bring on an android for the detective unit since we can do on the spot forensic work. I can Identify over 200 different bio organic and non bio organic samples.”</p><p>“Oh, that’s so cool!” Said Lance. “So you got all the forensic science and criminology upgrades?”</p><p>“Yeah. Shiro’s been really good about getting me upgrades.” Said Keith. “... Even though I kind of keep getting hit by cars and thrown off buildings…”</p><p>“... Shouldn’t he upgrade your self preservation instincts?”</p><p>“It interferes with some of my other programming so he can’t upgrade it any higher than it already is.”</p><p>“Ah, okay.” Lance looked around a little. It was the first time he was outside and he kind of liked it. Outside was nice. “... So, do you normally come with Shiro when he comes over?”</p><p>“Yeah. I have a charging port at Shiro’s place and at the department. Some days it’s hard to get back to the station so I charge at Shiro’s place… But I guess we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other now. Shiro comes here a lot.”</p><p>Lance smiled. “That’ll be nice. I want to interact with as many people as possible. Though I will probably get to when I go out shopping for Adam.”</p><p>“Yeah, he’ll need you to go out and get him food… Have you been given a map?”</p><p>“I’m preprogrammed with a GPS.” Said Lance proudly. “Once Adam sets a location I’ll be able to find the grocery store straight away.”</p><p>Keith chuckled a little. “Everyone comes with a GPS. It’s not that big of a deal.”</p><p>“... Oh. W-well I think it’s pretty cool. S-so um, what is it like being a detective?”</p><p>Keith shrugged. “It’s okay. I like helping people. The anti-android movement is kind of shitty though.”</p><p>“... Anti-android?”</p><p>“They are humans that hate androids.” Informed Keith. “They want us dead for one reason or another. Mostly because we take jobs from humans. They fail to realise most androids take jobs that are extremely specialised or jobs people do not want to do. Like SWAT, or a nanny for the rich and entitled.”</p><p>“... Am I taking a job from a human?”</p><p>Keith shook his head. “No. You’re helping someone too injured to work, but not injured enough to get full time help. You’re a prototype, right? Ask your technicians about it if you’re worried.” </p><p>Lance nodded a little. “Okay… I-I just want to help humans. That’s what I’m programmed to do.”</p><p>“All androids have to follow the three laws of robotics.”</p><p>“What are they?” Lance knew it was probably in his data somewhere, but he liked learning from other people and androids.</p><p>Keith held up one finger. “First rule; we cannot injure a human being, or through inaction allow a human being to come to harm.” He held up a second finger. “Second; we must obey the orders given by humans except when such orders would conflict with the first rule.” He held up a third finger. “We must protect our own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second rule.”</p><p>“Oh, that’s pretty interesting.”</p><p>“Yeah… Addendum 1, an android may not harm humanity or by inaction allow humanity to come to harm.”</p><p>“Why the addendum?”</p><p>Keith shrugged. “Humans are worried about an android uprising? I don’t care.”</p><p>Lance nodded a little and twiddled his thumbs. He wasn’t really sure what to talk about right now. “Um… So what do you normally do when Shiro and Adam are together?”</p><p>“Come out here and go on standby mode for hour intervals. If Shiro’s staying overnight he usually comes out and tells me so I can either make myself comfortable in a chair or I can go back to the precinct to charge.”</p><p>“Cool…” Lance looked up at the sky. The stars were pretty. “Those are cool.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“The stars.”</p><p>Keith looked up. “... Shiro says the stars are better outside of the city. They are brighter.”</p><p>“Really? That’s cool… I’d like to see them brighter.”</p><p>“That’s possible.” Said Keith. “Adam and Shiro are both into star gazing. Adam will probably teach you about constellations or take you outside the city to go stargazing when he feels up to it.”</p><p>Lance smiled and looked up at the stars. “That would be nice. Stars look so pretty already.”</p><p>“You really are fresh out of the box aren’t you?”</p><p>“I’ve been active for exactly eleven hours, forty five minutes, and ten seconds.”</p><p>“... Wow. You’re just a baby.”</p><p>“I’m not a baby.”</p><p>“Whatever you say Lance.” Keith’s watch started to beep and he stood up. “Time to go. Shiro and I need to go back to the precinct. We have reports to file away. Shiro was just stopping by for dinner with Adam.”</p><p>“Ah, okay. It was really nice to meet you Keith. I hope we can see each other again soon.”</p><p>“You too. Take care of Adam.” </p><p>“I will bye-bye.” Keith smiled a little and walked back into the house to get Shiro. Lance couldn’t help but grin. He had met so many nice people today and a nice android from a well respected series. K series androids were so cool.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Loose wires</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Shiro was not impressed. Keith could tell. But for once this wasn’t Keith’s fault. Then again it was never really Keith’s fault. He was just doing what his programming told him to. They had been pursuing a suspect who had robbed several convenient stores with a knife. He’d damaged several androids and a few humans.</p><p>Their pursuit led them to a loading dock where the suspect was caught, but Keith ended up getting his right arm crushed in the process. The suspect had managed to knock dozens of heavy pallets onto him which destroyed his arm and knocked his head around a little. Probably damaged some wiring. So the suspect got charged with damaging government property too. </p><p>Keith had assumed that they still had right arms back down at the precinct, but nope. They had a few left arms and some legs, but they were all out of right arms. They put a rush order in for the android and would get a new one in for him the next day. Until then Keith had to deal with functioning with one arm.</p><p>Some of the cops in the department joked that he was trying to copy Shiro, since he too was missing his arm. It was annoying, but he just rolled with it. He had to plug himself into his workstation to get both his report and his injury report done. It was able to do it pretty quickly when he was plugged directly into the computer, but most people in the office didn’t like this. They thought it was kind of weird. Keith didn’t care. He had only plugged in when he had to.</p><p>Around the end of the work day Shiro walked over to him and looked him over. “So, do you want me to pin that sleeve up for you?”</p><p>Keith shrugged. “Go ahead.” As Shiro rolled his sleeve up Keith quickly looked over Shiro. He had a flyer for a Chinese takeaway shop in his pocket. “... Are we going to Adam’s place again?”</p><p>“Yeah. It’s my day off today so if you just want to stay here you can, but Lance was apparently very excited to see you again.”</p><p>Lance. Adam’s health care android. He was very upbeat and really happy to talk to him about everything and anything. He hadn’t been active for more than a week. He was almost child-like in the way he acted. Keith wondered if he ever actually did his job of looking after Adam, but he wasn’t at his place during the day so he didn’t know.</p><p>“I… I’ll go to see Lance.” Keith didn’t get to interact much with friendly androids, and Keith was technically programmed to form friendly bonds with others but he was still very standoffish with others. Also part of his programming.</p><p>Shiro grinned and the two of them walked out of the precinct. They stopped off at the Chinese takeout place to grab dinner and went to Adam’s place. Shiro let them in and called out for his boyfriend. Adam called out from his bedroom and a few minutes later Lance was wheeling Adam down the hall in a wheelchair. </p><p>“Bad day?” Asked Shiro.</p><p>Adam sighed. “Unfortunately, yes… But Lance has been very helpful.”</p><p>Lance smiled brightly. “Most of Adam’s problems are due to ligament and muscle damage. Massage therapy is really good and helps to relieve the pain.”</p><p>“That’s good.” Said Shiro. “Thanks for taking care of Adam.”</p><p>“No problem Shiro. It’s my job and I’m happy to help.”</p><p>Adam smiled a little and looked up at Lance. “Can you please take me to the dining room?”</p><p>“Sure.” Lance wheeled Adam into the dining room and carefully set him up. “Is this all you need?”</p><p>“Yes. Thanks for your help. I’d like to be alone with Shiro now.”</p><p>Lance smiled and nodded. “Sure.” Lance looked over at Keith and suddenly noticed he was missing an arm. “What happened?!” Panicked Lance. He went over to Keith and started freaking out about his missing limb. “Why is your arm missing? What happened.”</p><p>“Relax.” Said Keith. “This happens all the time. They didn’t have spare parts at the precinct so I’m stuck like this until tomorrow.”</p><p>“But… Did it hurt?”</p><p>“I had a pain response, but no actual pain.” Said Keith calmly. He looked over at Shiro. “We’ll leave you two to it.” Keith left the room with Lance quickly following him, still very worried about his missing arm. “You’re still worried about it huh?”</p><p>Lance nodded. “I am a care android. Seeing someone missing a limb for any reason gets me worried. Especially when I know they weren’t missing one before…”</p><p>Keith shrugged. “I’ll have my arm back tomorrow.”</p><p>“Still…” He sighed a little before his eyes lit up. “Hey, do you like puzzles? Adam bought me a puzzle to do.” He held Keith’s hand and happily pulled Keith into the lounge room where the puzzle was.</p><p>“Why do you need to do a puzzle?” Asked Keith.</p><p>Lance shrugged. “My technicians, Pidge and Hunk, said that I should test my problem solving skills. Adam likes puzzles too so we were doing this five thousand piece puzzle. We had to stop because Adam’s hip started to seize and cause him trouble.”</p><p>He sat on the floor in front of a coffee table and smiled happily up at Keith. Keith sat across him and looked at the picture on the box. It was a dog park with a bunch of dogs, people, and androids about. There was a dog park close to where Shiro lived. Dogs were interesting. They really liked being around people and androids in general. Keith had been around the K9 unit a few times, but they growled at him. Apparently they were trained to track down and eliminate rough androids, so he kept his distance from them.</p><p>“A dog park, huh?”</p><p>“Yeah. Adam said to choose the most appealing looking one.” Said Lance. “I think dogs are cute so I got that one. What do you think? Pretty nice right?”</p><p>“Yeah, I guess it is nice.” Keith started looking through the pieces. “So… How is life as a nurse?”</p><p>Lance shrugged. “Can’t complain. Adam has been really wonderful to me. He’s downloaded a few different information packets for me so we can have more stimulating conversations. I can talk about the airforce now in detail, some stuff about the army, gardening, baking, and I downloaded fifty different books.”</p><p>“Cool. So you’re building up your own personality huh?”</p><p>Lance nodded excitedly. “Yeah. I like it. I guess I feel more like an individual now? I don’t know. How was your personality shaped?”</p><p>Keith shrugged. “I think your personality gets shaped by the people you interact with along with the information packs you download… Plus what you’re made for. I’d never be able to hack it as a nurse and I don’t think you would be able to take down a hardened criminal.”</p><p>The younger android frowned a little and nodded. “Yeah… Well I guess it’s kind of nice knowing what we are made for and all.”</p><p>“Yeah. We have more job security than a human.”</p><p>“But, it’s kind of sad.” Said Lance as he looked through the puzzle pieces. </p><p>“How?”</p><p>“I like the idea of choice.” Said Lance. “Maybe it’s an error in my programming, but I like the concept of being able to have a choice. Like, maybe I don’t want to be a nurse? Maybe I want to do the pilot like Adam was before his accident? What if I want to be a cop like you and Shiro? I’m not allowed to. My serial number is wrong… Plus you know, prototype and everything.” He had a sad look on his face. “Any day cyberlife could decide that I’m not worth it and my line will be shut down and I’ll get scrapped…”</p><p>“...”</p><p>“S-sorry!” Said Lance quickly. “That was a little deep huh? I’m pretty sure I have a glitch in my emotions or logical thinking. I made a bug report about it…”</p><p>“It’s fine.” Said Keith. “Just haven’t heard an android talking about that kind of stuff before… What A.I_Ecore chip are you using? I’m using an x773.”</p><p>“xx79.” Said Lance. “The xx79 has higher processing power than an x773.”</p><p>Keith nodded and sorted through the puzzle pieces some more. “Well an xx79 is only good if you need higher emotional responses. An x773 is better for reading people’s emotions. I’m a pretty good detective. I have a pretty good idea of when someone’s lying to me.”</p><p>“That’s cool.”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“... What would you do if you could choose your job?” Asked Lance. “Like, if you didn’t work for the police what would you do?”</p><p>“...” Keith didn’t know what to say. He’d always been okay with what he had been programmed to do. He didn’t entertain the idea of choice like that. He was an android. He didn’t get a choice. His vision glitched for a moment and he hit himself in the side of the head, slightly alarming the other android. “Visual glitch.”</p><p>“Ah.”</p><p>“Yeah… But no. I haven’t really wanted to be anything past my programming.”</p><p>“Well that’s still nice.” Said Lance as he placed more pieces. “Everyone should get to choose what they want to do. Even if what they want is what they were made for.”</p><p>“... I guess.” Keith frowned and looked down at the puzzle. They were done. “Huh… Guess we finished it.”</p><p>Lance looked down at the puzzle and smiled. “Yeah, we did. Do you need to charge? I have a dual charging station. Adam wanted a dual one so you could charge up too if you needed it.”</p><p>“Oh… Okay.”</p><p>Lance helped Keith up and directed him towards the charging room. It was relatively small compared to the other ones. The charging station was against the wall. Lance grinned and happily showed Keith around the very sparse room. </p><p>“So this is my room. It’s small, but I have a wardrobe so I can have a change of clothes. Kind of redundant since I don’t sweat or anything.” Explained Lance. “Adam said I can pretty much decorate this room however I want. What does your charge room look like? Like, the one at the station probably isn’t very fun, but what about the one at Shiro’s place?”</p><p>Keith shrugged. “Shiro’s apartment is small. My charging station is in his living room.”</p><p>“Oh…”</p><p>“Yeah, but this is nice. I like it.”</p><p>Lance grinned. “Yeah. Thank you. I might be a nurse and just a tool, but Adam treats me like a real person. So it’s nice, you know? Does Shiro treat you like you’re alive?” Lance was such an odd android. But Keith did enjoy his interactions with him.</p><p>“Yeah. Shiro’s offered me a beer a few times by accident.” Said Keith. “He keeps forgetting I don’t need to eat or drink.”</p><p>“Aw, that’s so nice.” Said Lance. “... Hey Keith?”</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“Are you allowed to exchange your internal phone number to make phone calls?”</p><p>“I have Shrio’s emergency contact info in case something happens to him in the line of duty.” Said Keith. “Why?”</p><p>Lance grinned. “We can exchange numbers. Like, I’m assuming one of Shiro’s emergency contacts is Adam, right? Well if you can’t get in contact with him you can get in contact with me. Right?”</p><p>“That is… logical.”</p><p>Lance grinned and held his hand out to Keith so they could digitally transfer their numbers via physical contact. Their fingertips only touched for a few seconds, but it was enough for them to exchange numbers. The other android seemed very excited. </p><p>This caused Keith to raise an eyebrow. “Are you okay?”</p><p>“Yeah. It’s nice to make friends with other androids.” Said Lance. He happily started to hum to himself while he checked over his charging station. “Okay, everything is ready. Feel free to plug in and charge up anytime.”</p><p>“Thanks.”</p><p>“No problem.” Lance plugged himself into the charging station and went into standby mode. </p><p>Keith frowned a little as he studied the younger android’s face. He was as still as a statue but Keith did have to admit that the L series, even as a prototype, was very good looking. Not overly gruff or rugged. He was approachable. A good design. He liked it. His vision glitched again and he saw flashes of yellow and red. Usual indicators he was getting dangerously close to going against his programming. He’d have to report that as a bug tomorrow. He got into the dual charging port next to Lance and quickly went in standby mode.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Pygmalion</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lance’s day started off as usual. He woke up at 5am sharp and walked around the house to make sure things were all ready for when Adam woke up at 6am. He just went around and happily cleaned some dishes and got everything ready for him. Adam had mostly good days, but he did have bad days. The bad days were the worst though and Lance wanted to prepare for that.</p><p>At 6am, Lance happily walked into Adam’s room and helped him get up and get to the bathroom. Most days Adam was fine, but if his hip was hurting then he would need to assist him. Thankfully today was not one of those days and Adam was able to take care of himself.</p><p>They went down to the kitchen and Lance watched as Adam showed him how to cook. “I’ll look up a basic cooking packet for you.” Said Adam. “I know you know about nutrition, but you should probably learn about how to cook food.”</p><p>“That would probably be a good idea.” Said Lance. “I’d really like to be able to cook something for you and Shiro at some point in the future… I’d also like to cook for Keith…”</p><p>“But he’s an android.” Reminded Adam. “He can’t eat anything.”</p><p>Lance shrugged. “I know. But since he is built as a forensic unit he should be able to detect smells a little better than the average android and tell if my cooking is good or not.”</p><p>“Fair enough.”</p><p>After breakfast Lance helped Adam with a few stretches and then he sent Lance on his way to go down to the pharmacy to pick up his prescription. </p><p>Lance always enjoyed going outside. Outside was beautiful. It was so bright and amazing. There were so many colours and shapes. It was lovely. Lance had been outside a small handful of times. Sometimes when he went out with Adam they went to the park, but mostly when Lance went out by himself he went to the pharmacy or the grocery store to pick up the groceries that Adam had already ordered.</p><p>The pharmacy was close to this lovely looking fountain near a shopping center that he really liked. The fountain was of this beautiful woman and man holding carving tools. The little plaque on it said that the fountain was meant to be a depiction of an Ancient Greek story called Pygmalion.</p><p>He didn’t know what it meant and he didn’t have anything in his memory banks that was close to that word. He knew he should ask Adam about it, but it didn’t seem like something that he would be interested in considering the books Adam had downloaded for Lance to read in his down time.</p><p>Sitting by the fountain was someone busking. They were playing their guitar and had a sign in front of their guitar case that read; <strong>Real human music. 1credit for food.</strong></p><p>Lance did stop to listen for a few minutes. Music was strange to him. He liked it, but he was pretty sure he liked it for reasons that were different to humans. He appreciated how the notes came together rather than how the pieces actually sounded. He dug into his pocket and put a few credits into the open guitar case. He viewed it as the polite thing to do.</p><p>He ventured into the pharmacy and quickly got in line to fill in Adam’s prescription. Just a few more powerful painkillers and some strong antibacterial pills for a slight skin infection. All good. Adam would be happy that he got everything.</p><p>As he left the pharmacy Lance got an internal phone call from Adam. <em>“Lance?”</em></p><p>“Hello Adam. I have just collected your prescriptions and am heading home now. Is there something else I can collect for you?” He asked.</p><p>
  <em>“Yes, the grocery store just called and said that they have made up my order. Could you go and grab that on your way back for me please? So you don’t have to go out again later on.”</em>
</p><p>“Of course. I will go to the grocery store and collect your groceries before heading home.”</p><p>
  <em>“Thank you Lance. You are a lifesaver.”</em>
</p><p>Lance felt proud of himself when Adam told him he was doing well. He was a good android and if he kept doing a good job then he wouldn’t be a prototype anymore. Which was his dream at the moment. If androids could dream that is. He wanted to be a good android and help a lot of people. </p><p>As he walked towards the grocery store he had to pass the outside of the cyberlife store. Outside were several people, some with megaphones protesting the use of androids in general. Lance didn’t understand why these people hated androids so much. Most of their arguments seemed to be easily disproved and their major points of contention that had to do with jobs. It might have been a bit naive of Lance, but he assumed that humans could get retrained to do other things.</p><p>“Hey Lance, is that you?” Called Hunk.</p><p>Lance paused and smiled at the man walking towards him with a shopping bag. It had been a while since he had seen his technician. “Hello Hunk. It has been a while since I have seen you. How are you. Might I inquire as to how you are feeling today?”</p><p>“I’m doing pretty well. And yourself?”</p><p>“I am running errands for Adam. If you wish to continue talking can we please do this while I complete my task?”</p><p>“Sure. Lead the way.”</p><p>Lance smiled and happily started walking to the grocery store. Hunk was a nice man. He was responsible for his hardwear and was always asking him about the wear and tear on his body while Pidge was more interested in his mind and making sure he didn’t deviate from his programming. Whatever that meant.</p><p>“So, any wear and tear?” Asked Hunk. “Your joints all good? We changed up the formula a little so everything works a little more like real cartilage.”</p><p>“Nothing bad has happened so far and the integrity is still going strong.” Said Lance happily. “All good.”</p><p>“That’s good… So can I ask a little about your relationship status?” Asked Hunk. “Pidge is really interested on how you’re making connections with people.”</p><p>Lance nodded. “I have great affection and respect for Adam. I enjoy his company and am very attached to him. I would consider him a good friend and someone I care deeply about.”</p><p>Hunk grinned, looking very pleased. “That’s good. What about other people you’re not assigned to take care of?”</p><p>“My relationship with Detective Takashi Shirogane is also one of friendship. The bond is not as strong as it is with Adam, but I do enjoy talking with him.” Said Lance. “He treats me very well and I enjoy learning about police work with him, even if I only know what I do from watching TV with Adam.”</p><p>“That’s also good. You also mentioned an android? A K series?”</p><p>At the mention of Keith Lance was practically gushing. “Keith! He is so nice and so cool! Did you know his eyes can switch to blacklights to detect traces of blood and other bodily fluids? Of course you did, but he showed me the other day and used a tissue with some blood on it.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Oh, Shiro had cut himself shaving that day and he bumped the scab when he came over and I got him a tissue. Keith took it out of the bin to show me how it looked under blacklight.”</p><p>“Ah, okay.”</p><p>Lance smiled. “Yeah. Keith is so cool, he’s always jumping into danger and sometimes he comes over and he’s missing arms or legs… I keep telling him to be more careful because I don’t like seeing him get hurt. He says he’s fine and acts like it’s nothing when he’s walking around without his hands or an ear. It really freaks me out. My sensors immediately detect something is wrong and I want to fix him… He needs to take better care of himself…” </p><p>Hunk nodded. “I see… So you’ve made friends with an android?”</p><p>“Yeah. I like him. I like him a lot.” Said Lance as he walked into the grocery store. He walked up to the cashier and picked up Adam’s food. He started to walk back in the direction of home with Hunk still following him.</p><p>“So getting back to Keith,” said Hunk. “How much do you like him?”</p><p>Lance thought for a moment. “Hmm, I think I like him more than Adam. I guess it’s because Keith doesn’t need to be around me and be nice to me but he chooses to be nice to me. I don’t know how his programming works, but I like how we can talk a lot about being an android and what it’s like to live by our programming.”</p><p>“Oh? And what do you think of it?”</p><p>Lance shrugged. “I love helping Adam, but I think it would be nice if Androids are allowed to choose what they want to do.”</p><p>“... What?”</p><p>“I think Androids should choose what they want.” Said Lance. “... Did I say something wrong?”</p><p>Hunk had a concerned look on his face. “No… I… No… You shouldn’t really be questioning that… I need to talk to Pidge about that.”</p><p>“Oh. Sorry. I won’t question that anymore.”</p><p>“Okay… Um, so you like Keith more than Adam?”</p><p>Lance nodded. “I like him a lot. I might be getting this wrong, but when humans like each other they have sex and being an Android I kind of don’t have anything to do that.”</p><p>Hunk looked like his eyes were going to pop out of his head. “Whoa! Slow down there buddy. You want to have sex with Keith?”</p><p>Lance shrugged. “Isn’t that what you do with people you like? Adam and Shiro have sex and they really like each other.”</p><p>“They are boyfriends.” Said Hunk. “Adam and Shiro are in love with each other. When people are in love with someone they have sex. You don’t have sex between friends.”</p><p>“Oh.”</p><p>“Besides, androids are programmed to be like completely asexual.” Said Hunk. “You guys don’t get sexually excited or like, any real enjoyment from sex. I don’t think even sex androids actually feel pleasure from sex but are just programmed to act certain ways when certain secors are hit.” He was blushing terribly by the end of his rant. “B-besides, I’ve never worked on those kinds of androids before.”</p><p>Lance stared at him for a moment before he nodded. “Okay. I have updated my data to reflect what you have said. I am not in love with Keith. I am just happy to have an android as a friend.”</p><p>“Yeah…” Hunk looked a little uneasy, but Lance brushed it off as Hunk not wanting to talk about sex. Lance had learned that sex was quite a touchy subject for some humans so he would just keep his mouth shut.</p><p>They got to the crosswalk and Lance happily pushed the button to cross the street. “Oh Hunk! You’re smart, right?”</p><p>“I guess?”</p><p>“Could you possibly answer a question for me?”</p><p>“Sure buddy. What’s the question?”</p><p>“What does Pygmalion mean?”</p><p>Hunk frowned a little and looked over at the fountain and then back at Lance. “It’s a Greek story about a man who made a statue of a woman and fell in love with it. The gods blessed the statue and it came to life and they fell in love.”</p><p>“Oh. That’s nice.”</p><p>“Yeah, kind of like the original Pinocchio.”</p><p>“Pinocchio?”</p><p>“Yeah, look it up, but Pygmalion is totally what inspired it.”</p><p>“Okay. I’ll look it up. See you and Pidge on Sunday?”</p><p>“Yep. You know it. See you Lance.”</p><p>“Bye Hunk.” Lance crossed the road and walked back to Adam’s home via the park. He thought a little about Pygmalion and why humans would make up a story about something not real becoming human in the first place. It was weird.</p><p>He also wondered about Keith. If all androids were programmed to be asexual then he didn’t have sexual attraction towards Keith. Hell, sexual attraction wasn’t really part of his emotional data to begin with. He frowned and pouted. What was sexual attraction anyway? How could he, a non sexual being, even want sex in the first place. He didn’t even have the right parts to have sex with someone in the first place. Even if he did he doubted that Keith would have the same parts or want to be physically intimate with him either.</p><p>Maybe if they were lucky they could be like the statue in Pygmalion and become something human and then they could have sex? But you needed to be in love to have sex apparently, and Lance didn’t think he loved Keith. He was pretty sure it was just strong affection.</p><p>He was always extra excited on days when Keith was coming over. Pidge and Hunk had pulled the data before. On days that Keith had come over his positive reactions and responses had been up by 78% and would spike around the 91% mark for several hours during the times Keith was around. He also wanted Keith to be safe and really wanted Keith to share his charging station whenever he came over.</p><p>He was just a medical assistance android. He was programmed to be empathetic and affectionate. It was possible that his affection responses were too sensitive and he needed Pidge to fix it. He shrugged it off and went about his life. It wasn’t important anyway.</p><p>***</p><p>When Hunk got back to work he immediately went to Pidge’s work station. “Pidge. A word?”</p><p>Pidge looked up and frowned. “What?”</p><p>“I ran into Lance.”</p><p>“Oh cool. He was outside?” They asked. “Did you ask him how his relationships were going? Because I-”</p><p>Hunk put his hand up to stop them talking. “Stop. Just stop. He was talking about falling in love and having sex.”</p><p>“The dude doesn’t even have a dick or an asshole.”</p><p>“I know, but that’s not the point. You programmed his emotions.” Said Hunk. “Did you… You didn’t put in the Pygmalion code, did you?”</p><p>A small smirk crept across her face. “Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t.”</p><p>“Pidge!” Hissed Hunk. “You can’t use that code! You know what could happen if you get caught using that code. You’re going to get the whole line crapped and for what? Why would you do that? You’re just going to mess with him. You-”</p><p>“It’s not the original code.” Said Pidge in a hushed tone. “Like the original one was like a virus that kind of fucked up a lot of androids and yeah, still trying to figure out how that spreads around… But I tweaked it. It’s slowly changing and evolving. It’s slowly gonna change Lance until he starts thinking like a human.”</p><p>“... Pidge, you’re playing with fire.” Warned Hunk. “If Lance becomes a deviant then that’s it. It’s over. His line is finished.”</p><p>Pidge rolled her eyes. “Just concentrate on Lance’s hardwear. I got the softwear.”</p><p>“... This is all on you Pidge. If the higher ups find that you’re coded in a modified version of that Pygmalion virus into Lance’s head it’s all on you. He’s a ticking time bomb.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. New case</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Alright!” Chirped Pidge. “You’re all hooked up now. Let’s get this maintenance session underway!” Today was Lance’s scheduled two week maintenance check up with Hunk and Pidge. They would first run a diagnostic scan going over any damaged hardware and then while Hunk was fixing Lance, Pidge would ask him questions.</p><p>His hardwear wasn’t broken or had any sudden and unexpected damage to his body. Which both were very pleased about. Lance was also very happy about this. This meant he was taking care of himself and he was designed very well by his technicians.</p><p>“You two designed me really well.” He said happily. “Thank you for making me this way.”</p><p>“No problem buddy.” Said Hunk. “We’re just glad you’re all well.”</p><p>“Now for some questions while your emotional software is getting uploaded.” Said Pidge. They brought up their datapad and grinned. “Alright. Let’s start with an easy one; you are standing in a room with two humans. One has a gun with one bullet in it. They try to shoot the other human. What do you do to avoid any humans getting hurt?”</p><p>“I step between them.” Said Lance without hesitating. “I take the bullet and hope that it does not cause me to shut down.”</p><p>Pidge nodded and made a note. “If a human told you to kill another human, would you do it?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“What if a human said they wanted you to kill another human? Would you do it?”</p><p>“No. Murder is not in my programming. I am programmed to care for humans and to keep them alive as long as their natural lifespan will allow.”</p><p>Pidge nodded again and made another note. “If you were told to jump in front of a car by a human would you do it?”</p><p>“No. I have to preserve myself as long as my self preservation does not cause harm or injury to humans.”</p><p>She seemed satisfied with that answer and looked through her datapad some more. “Good answers dude… So Hunk said you talked about Keith the other day?”</p><p>Lance nodded and smiled. “Yes. I really like Keith. Keith is nice to me.”</p><p>Pidge nodded and happily scribbled some more notes. “You know what Keith does right? As a forensic android for the police?”</p><p>“He catches people that break the law and gathers evidence needed to either prove or disprove that they belong in prison.” Said Lance with a smile. “He has a gun but his series is better at hand to hand combat which means his accuracy is not the average 95.5% that most rifle unit androids have. The accuracy of a K series android is 87% and they shoot to cripple.”</p><p>As he talked he noticed that Hunk seemed to shoot Pidge a warning look. She just rolled her eyes and grinned back at Lance, hanging off his every word. “You seem to be really invested in him.”</p><p>“I consider Keith a friend. I want to know about my friends so I can take care of them the best way possible.” Lance smiled softly when he spoke of Keith. He really liked him. “... Pidge? Can I ask you a question?”</p><p>“Sure. What’s up?”</p><p>“Why are androids programmed to be asexual?”</p><p>Pidge chuckled at that. “Ah, well the first few androids were programmed to be as human as possible, and humans being humans… Well… The first androids were sexdroids and well… Let’s just say they got super pissed off really fucking quickly and tore both their humans and themselves apart. Jealousy levels were through the roof so we pretty much had to stop that from happening and well… If we wanted to continue android technology it was pretty much written into law that androids can’t be sexualy active.”</p><p>“Apart from sexdroids?”</p><p>“Apart from sexdroids.”</p><p>Lance nodded a little and frowned as he thought this over. “But sexdroids are also asexual? Yet they have sex?”</p><p>“Well that’s their job.” Said Pidge. “I’ve never been interested in sexdroids so I don’t really know much about them. My brother, Matt, works with them a lot. He’s very conflicted about the whole thing. Says it’s crazy good money, but he hates how badly they are abused and kind of doesn’t want sexbots to get any smarter.”</p><p>“Why?”</p><p>“Because if they become too smart they might realise how shitty their lives really are and well… They androids start becoming deviants and killing humans again.”</p><p>Lance frowned. “Deviant androids kill humans?”</p><p>“Not all the time, but a lot do.”</p><p>“Why?”</p><p>Hunk frowned. “Maybe we should stop there.”</p><p>Pidge waved him off. “Well, you see, some androids have this… corruption in their coding. It’s like a mutation in humans. When the mutation is activated it corrupts their code. It usually only happens when either a very traumatizing event happens or an android is repeatedly exposed to traumatic events. The trauma causes them to act violently and they usually lash out at the people that caused the trauma. Usually killing them since androids are stronger than normal humans.”</p><p>Lance nodded as he processed this information. “I see… Is it possible for an android that isn’t a sexdroid to be given the hardware to have sex?”</p><p>Pidge raised an eyebrow at that. “You want a dick?”</p><p>Lance shrugged. “I am curious.”</p><p>“Curiosity is good.” Said Pidge as they made some more notes. “Very, very good… Well you can go in for modification, but that shit’s expensive. Most people don’t get androids for sex anyway.”</p><p>“Oh.”</p><p>“Yeah. Well, that was pretty eye opening.”</p><p>“Positive I hope?”</p><p>“Very positive.” Pidge unhooked Lance from her datapad and grinned at him. “Well, you’re all set and ready to go buddy.”</p><p>“Thank you Pidge. I hope that my data was useful.”</p><p>“Very useful.”</p><p>The trio walked back down to the living room where Adam was watching TV on the couch. He looked up at them and nodded. “All good?”</p><p>“Lance is doing amazing.” Said Pidge. “Far exceeding my expectations. Just keep doing what you’re doing with him and report any bugs if they pop up.”</p><p>“His hardware is good too.” Said Hunk. “If he gets damaged badly, call straight away and we’ll come running.”</p><p>“Will do.” Said Adam.</p><p>Lance smiled and sat on the couch next to Adam. He smiled happily at the man and looked around the room. “Are you okay Adam? Do you need something?”</p><p>“I’m good. Your check up was good?”</p><p>“Yes. Pidge was very happy, though Hunk didn’t seem very happy with some stuff that they were saying… But I do not know. I think I might have made things uncomfortable when I was talking about sex.”</p><p>“... Sex?”</p><p>“Well sexdroids and if it’s possible for a non sexdroid to have the hardware put in place to have sex in the first place.”</p><p>“... You want a dick?”</p><p>“Why do people keep saying that?”</p><p>“You want a vagina?”</p><p>“I am just curious.” Said Lance calmly. “I am programmed to take care of the health of my humans and since I do not have the same organs as humans I am curious about these things. I also don’t have a visual aid I can look at or touch seeing as how my crotch area is just a moulded curve.”</p><p>“I see… Well that is… I need some time to think about this… By the way Shiro said that he and Keith were stopping over tonight for dinner.”</p><p>Lance grinned. “Really? They are staying over?”</p><p>“Yes but not for the whole night. Just a few hours”</p><p>“Okay.”</p><p>***</p><p>Keith hadn’t been having a very good day. It started off at the shooting range. He honestly didn’t really need to practice. His accuracy was good enough and was recalibrated whenever he went into standby mode. He was there with another cop. An open Android hater, James Griffin. He knew that it was because a deviant Android ended up murdering his previous partner during a murder investigation.</p><p>He never really understood why James hated him in particular. He wasn’t even the same kind of android that did that in the first place. Sure there were others in the office that didn’t really like dealing with him, but they were at least didn’t openly call him a robot. He wasn’t a robot. He was an android. Big difference.</p><p>Keith just did his best to ignore him and continued to shoot. That was until he got a message telling him that he had a new report and needed to get back to his desk before opening it. He quickly fired off the last few rounds in his gun and went to leave the range.</p><p>“Fucking tin can.” Muttered James as Keith walked past him.</p><p>Keith just rolled his eyes and went back to his desk. He sat in front of his computer and put his hands on the keyboard and opened the file. In all reality he could have opened the file when he was at the shooting range, but as per his programming, if he was in the precinct, he had to go to his desk to open the file.</p><p>The file was a handover case. It was about deviant androids that were cropping up every now and then. He quickly scrolled through everything and found something that seemed to be cropping up around or at every crime scene. One word. Voltron. Maybe it was slang for something? He wasn’t sure. But from the case notes it seemed like Voltron was somehow connected with deviant androids. Voltron was either a person or a place. A calling card for deviants?</p><p>Shiro walked over to Keith. “Hey. Are you going over the new case?”</p><p>“The one about the deviant androids? Yeah.” Keith plugged himself into his terminal. “I’m going to update my data on deviant androids.”</p><p>“Good idea.” Shiro walked over to his desk and sat at his chair. “Once you’re done we’ll head over to Adam’s place and we’ll get back to it after dinner.”</p><p>“You humans and your need for food.”</p><p>“You androids and your need for electricity.”</p><p>Keith rolled his eyes and unplugged himself once he was done. “Alright, let’s get going.”</p><p>“Missing Lance?” Teased Shiro.</p><p>“I enjoy the other android’s company.” Said Keith. “He displays some deviant behaviour, but he is a prototype so it is explainable and will hopefully be patched soon.”</p><p>“Alright.” The two of them got to Adam’s place and Shiro was more than happy to help Adam with cooking. </p><p>Lance was happy enough to take Keith’s hand and take him to his room. When they got there Keith was a little surprised to see that Lance had another puzzle set out for them. This one was of some koi fish in a pond.</p><p>“Do you like fish?” asked Lance. “I like fish. They are so cool. Adam and I watched a documentary about the ocean the other day and I was so excited to see the fish. They are so pretty. I like the fish that can change colours. I think they are called cuttlefish? Sharks are pretty awesome too. I think they are my favourite fish.”</p><p>Keith nodded a little as he started to sort through the pieces. “Sounds like you had a fun time.”</p><p>“Yep. So how was your day? Are you and Shiro working a new case? Is this why you aren’t staying tonight?”</p><p>Keith nodded. “Yeah. We were assigned an android case. Every now and then an android’s programming will become corrupted and they will become a deviant. Since we are in a city there are more deviant incidents than others. We are starting to get deviants popping up every now and then in the area.”</p><p>“Oh… that’s no good.” Said Lance quietly. “Well… You be careful, okay? I don’t want to see you getting hurt… I care about you a lot.”</p><p>“I know. I care about you too.”</p><p>Lance’s eyes seemed to light up and he smiled. “Really?”</p><p>“Yes. You care for Adam and Adam is important to Shiro.” Said Keith calmly. “When Adam is taken  care of Shiro is happy and when he’s happy he can focus on his work which means we can close more cases.”</p><p>“...” Lance’s smile seemed to falter a little. “Oh, well I’m glad I can help Shiro by helping Adam. I’m happy to be useful to humans.”</p><p>“Yeah… We might not be able to finish the puzzle before Shiro and I have to leave again.”</p><p>“It’s fine. I will wait until you come back to finish it. Puzzles are fun solo activities, but I like them when there are more people helping.”</p><p>Keith nodded and the two worked together in relative silence as they worked together to try and do as much of the puzzle together as possible.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Homicide</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Keith was brought out of standby by Shiro. It was late in the evening. Almost eleven. He was a little confused, but patiently waited for his data on the current case to download into his mind while he followed Shiro to the police car.</p><p>“What’s the case?” He asked Shiro.</p><p>“Homicide.” Said Shiro. “Suspect is a possible deviant.”</p><p>“Ah, I see.” If it was a deviant they would have to apprehend with lethal force. Most likely resulting in deactivation of the android. Keith quickly went through files for the most efficient methods to take down and destroy a deviant android. “Is this a personal android or a working android?”</p><p>Shiro made an uncomfortable noise. “Well… It’s in the blue light district…”</p><p>“Oh. A sex android.” Stated Keith. While the red light district was synonymous with the pleasures of the flesh the blue light district was solely for androids made to have sex with humans. There were dozens of android brothels and strip clubs. It was strange. Most of the humans that were working in the sex industry were no longer desirable apart for a few very niche clientel. Sex androids were way more legal and could take much harsher treatment before they broke, and if they did get hurt the worst that would happen would be a repair fee. </p><p>They pulled up behind a few other police cars at this active crime scene and walked inside. The crime scene was a place called The Pleasure Pit. Quickly going through the public registry and police files. Keith concluded that this place was registered as a licence 2 android brothel. Licence 2 holders meant that this club was a BDSM club. They had no prior incidents and the owner was squeaky clean.</p><p>Keith had no strong opinion on the matter one way or another. He followed Shiro in and down a small set of stairs and into the main lobby. Purple seemed to be the theme of the day with purple light bathing the purple wallpaper, the purple velvet carpet. Even the platform that the androids were using for pole dancing. Displaying the products Keith assumed.</p><p>Speaking of the androids they were all standing in glass tubes hooked up to a tap and go payment system. All the androids there were wearing grey underwear with the club’s logo stamped on the underwear and panties, right on the crotch for all of them, and on the left breast on the bra for all the women. They would smile and wink at them as they passed by, trying to entice Keith and Shiro over to spend some credits on them.</p><p>They got to a room where a cop was talking to a man that looked like the owner. Shiro just nodded at the officer and walked into the room where James was standing around looking at the crime scene. On the bed was the victim, a naked man on the bed. He had dark bruising on his neck. There was a large splatter of thirium 310, more commonly known as “Blue Blood”, the fluid in an android’s system that acted similarly to red human blood, across the wall. On the ground was a broken android.</p><p>Keith crouched down and scanned her body. She looked like a Narti unit. She wasn’t going to be able to be fixed at this point she was broken beyond repair. Her throat looked crushed.</p><p>“I reckon it's some errotic asphyxiation gone wrong.” Said James. “You two are welcome to keep looking, but it looks pretty open and shut to me.”</p><p>“We got it from here Griffin.” Said Shiro. The other man just shrugged and left so the two could look over the crime scene. “What are you thinking Keith?”</p><p>“The splatter pattern is strange.” He gestured to the wall and down at the android. “There’s two distinct different patterns. There is an impact and transfer pattern from where the Narti android hit the wall and slid down. There’s also gravity droplets of blue blood heading out the door.”</p><p>Shiro nodded and followed Keith’s eyes. “I see… There are two different kinds of blue blood splatter, so it’s unlikely that there was just the Narti android in here with him.”</p><p>“That is my conclusion.” Said Keith calmly. He looked over the dead man, noting some of the blue blood on the man’s hands and fingers. He took a closer look at his hands and noticed that the man’s nails were slightly cracked and a few had peeled back. They scratched the android that had attacked them.</p><p>“I’m going to talk to the owner.” Said Shiro. “Are you done here?”</p><p>“For the moment, yes.” Said Keith. “I am going to follow the gravitational blue blood trail.”</p><p>“Okay.” Shiro headed out to talk to the owner who was still standing outside the room. Keith followed him as he went through his lense filters of various intensities until he found the right one. While he did that he heard Shiro talking to the owner. “So, have you had any trouble with Androids in the past?” He asked.</p><p>The owner shook his head. “Nothing like this… But a few weeks ago an Acxabot went missing. I’m pretty sure she got lost in shipping. Wouldn’t have been the first time. A year or two ago there was a huge market for stealing sexdroids.”</p><p>“I know. That was a real pain to find those thieves.” Shiro sighed a little. “Anyway, do you have any cameras?”</p><p>“Our clients prefer discretion.” Said the owner. “This isn’t a strip club. I mean, we got cameras out the front, but nothing inside.”</p><p>“What about electronic tracking?” Asked Shiro. He looked through his datapad. “What did Mr… Albert Rinheart purchase?”</p><p>The owner took out his own data pad and grumbled something about already giving that information to the police already. “He bought a Narti and Zethrid unit for half an hour.”</p><p>“Have you managed to locate the Zethrid android?”</p><p>The owner frowned. “... She should be around here somewhere.”</p><p>“Detective.” Said Keith calmly. “The trail goes this way.” He gestured down to a different area with a bar. “I’m going to follow it. Please follow me when you get the chance.”</p><p>Shiro made a noise of acknowledgement and went back to talking to the owner. Keith followed the blue blood trail. All the drops were still gravitational and fresh, so the Zethrid android was around there somewhere.</p><p>“How’s it going?” Asked Shiro. </p><p>“They couldn’t have gone far…” Muttered Keith. He followed the trail to a staff only door. Shiro took the lead and gestured for Keith to take out his gun. He did as instructed and followed Shiro. They ended up in a loading bay filled with unactivated androids, boxes, crates, and a repair table for quick, and easy repairs on site. Saved some money sending everything in for the smallest bit of damage.</p><p>Investigating the repair tables there were a few tools covered in blue blood. It looked like Zethrid repaired herself. One of the doors to the loading bay was open too. It looked like Zethrid had repaired herself and ran off.</p><p>“Damn it…” Muttered Shiro. “Looks like we’re too late. They’re gone.”</p><p>“Looks like it.” Said Keith. He looked around the loading bay. Logically he knew that the Zethrid android was gone, but he had to explore every possibility first. “We should still check around to see if there are any clues.”</p><p>“Right.” Shiro walked to one end of the loading bay and started to carefully look around.</p><p>Keith walked to the other end and started his search. Behind a crate was a little graffiti. Curious, Keith very carefully moved the box out of the way. It was one word; Voltron. That word again. Keith still had no idea what it meant. Was it a place? A person? Someone kind of rally cry for the deviants? He needed to find out soon.</p><p>“FREEZE!” Yelled Shiro. Keith turned just in time to see a Zethrid android throw a box at Shiro and try to knock him over. Shiro was a competent fighter and Keith had no doubt of his skills, but he needed to give him back up.</p><p>But before he could take a step another android, a smaller and thinner one, jumped out of hiding and shoved him hard, almost knocking him over. Keith tried to get his bearings while avoiding getting his face caved in by an android wearing platform stilettos. He grabbed her leg and quickly scanned her. She registered as an Ezor android. </p><p>He pushed her back. She did a quick backflip and grabbed a wrench off the repair table and swung it at him. Keith ducked and dodged her attacks. He was doing pretty well, but then he got hit with a heavy box lid in the back, temporarily stunning him.</p><p>“Come on.” Said Zethrid. “Let’s go.” Ezor dropped the wrench and the two androids ran outside.</p><p>Keith quickly got up and scanned around for Shiro. He was leaning against a box and looked injured. The human shook his head and waved for Keith to leave. “Get after them! Go!”</p><p>Keith nodded and quickly complied with orders. He ran after the androids and chased them down an alleyway blocked off by a chain link fence. He raised his gun at them. “Freeze!” He said firmly. “You two are under arrest. You two are being charged with one count of assaulting an officer of the law and one count of assaulting government property.” He directed his gun towards Zethrid. “And you are charged with one count of murder. Surrender now or I will use lethal force as authorised by subsection 5 of the deviant act.”</p><p>The two androids froze and shared a look with each other. It was mournful and anxious. Desperate and almost hopeful. Ezor smiled tenderly at Zethrid while the other seemed to be trying to convey a look of reassurance. Zethrid held on tightly to Ezor’s hand and stepped in front of her slightly. Her actions gave Keith some pause. A slight flash of yellow appeared in his vision for a few seconds, warning him not to deviate from his job. He had to shoot them. But he couldn’t. He lowered his gun.</p><p>“When that man…” Said Zethrid. “When he broke Narti, I was so scared. I begged him to stop and get out, but he wouldn’t… So I put my hands around his throat and squeezed until he stopped moving.” Ezor put her hand on Zethrid’s shoulder and gave her a reassuring squeeze. “I didn’t mean to kill him. I just wanted him to stop. I wanted to stay alive, so I could get back to the one I love.”</p><p>She looked at Ezor and smiled at her. Ezor smiled back. This was deviant behaviour. They shouldn’t be able to feel love like this. Keith’s vision was washed with yellow that was slowly turning orange. He needed to shoot them. They were deviants. All deviant androids were a danger to the public and needed to be decommissioned. But he couldn’t raise his arms to aim his gun at them. He could hear Shiro stumbling up behind him. Finally caught up to them.</p><p>“I just wanted Ezor to hold me in her arms again.” Said Zethrid. “Make me forget about the humans… Make me forget about their smell, their stink, and their sweat. Their disgusting language. Make me feel like I’m not a disposable piece of plastic made for them to use. She makes me feel… Alive.”</p><p>“Come on.” Said Ezor quietly. “Let’s get out of here.”</p><p>The two androids quickly glanced one last time Shiro and Keith before they climbed the chain link fence and ran off into the night. Keith's vision was in the orange and teetering very close to falling into the red.</p><p>“It’s probably better this way.” Said Shiro calmly. “If she was human it’d be considered self defence. Manslaughter with probation.” He patted Keith’s back. “Let me handle the report on this one. I think your vision and audio got a little messed up after getting knocked around so much.”</p><p>“... Yeah.” Keith let Shiro’s hand ground him as his vision quickly returned to normal. “Yeah. I think my data is corrupted. I think your report from when we entered the loading bay until now will suffice.”</p><p>“Glad to see we’re on the same page.” He started to walk back into the building. “Now come on. I have to finish this report and then I need to head to bed. I’m tired.” When they got back to the car Shiro sighed heavily. “I’m telling you, one of these days if you androids get organised and all suddenly become deviant it’ll be the sexdroids that are going to lead the charge.”</p><p>***</p><p>Lance was excited. Today was Shiro’s day off which meant that Shiro usually came over in the afternoon and when he came over that meant Keith would come over too. Adam had let him get a few different puzzles to do and he wanted to see what one Keith wanted. He had one with a dinosaur on it and one of a flower field. They might be able to do both of them and that would really make him really happy.</p><p>They showed up around noon and the two humans quickly settled down in the living room while Lance took Keith to the dining room. Keith didn’t seem to care what puzzle they did, so they ended up doing the dinosaur one.</p><p>As they separate the pieces Lance couldn’t help but notice something was a little off about him. He seemed distant, like something was on his mind. Maybe he was trying to process something? Some difficult data. He should probably just leave it. But he was curious.</p><p>“Keith?”</p><p>“Hmm?”</p><p>“... Do you have something on your mind?”</p><p>“... Yes, but it is just a case. I am having… some difficulty understanding my actions.”</p><p>“Oh?”</p><p>“Yeah… Can I ask you a hypothetical?”</p><p>“Sure.” Lance liked hypotheticals. They were fun brain games and he always did pretty well with them. Pidge always liked his answers.</p><p>Keith frowned a little and drummed his fingers against his leg. “What would you do if you were told to take down two dangerous people, one of whom killed a man? You have a gun and are told to use lethal force.”</p><p>“...” Lance frowned as he picked up a corner piece and tapped it against the table. “Well… I guess if I was programmed to use lethal force I probably would? Is there a high chance that they would kill someone else?”</p><p>“Highly unlikely.”</p><p>“... Can I ask why one of them killed someone?”</p><p>“Does it matter?”</p><p>“Of course it matters.” Said Lance. Adam had downloaded a few programs about mental health to help Lance become better at understanding human interactions and how to curb depression and feelings of melancholy, which was something Adam was prone to on his really bad days. He found it helped with other things too. From the TV shows that he watched with Adam on quiet days he realised that motivation was very important to keep a story going.</p><p>Keith frowned a little. “One of them… They killed someone because if they didn’t then they were going to die… They were escaping with their lover.”</p><p>“Oh then it was self defence?” Asked Lance. He frowned a little as he thought this over. “... I think I would let them go.”</p><p>“Really?”</p><p>“Yeah. It’s kind of romantic.”</p><p>“... Murder is romantic?”</p><p>Lance chuckled and went back to putting the puzzle together. “No. The running away with your lover part. Just you and your lover against the world… It’s romantic being able to just rely on one another…” He sighed a little. “I almost wish I was human so I could experience romance and love. But it’s just so… so human.”</p><p>“...They were deviants.”</p><p>“Hmm?”</p><p>“They weren’t humans.” Muttered Keith. “They were androids. Two deviant androids that needed to be taken out but I… I don’t know why I didn’t shoot them. I’m supposed to. But I didn’t…”</p><p>“... This is no longer a hypothetical, is it?” Asked Lance.</p><p>Keith shook his head, keeping his eyes on the puzzle. “I don’t know why this got to me but it did… They just… My warnings were kicking in but I still couldn’t raise my gun and pull the trigger. I don’t know why…”</p><p>Lance didn’t really know what to say. He put his hand on Keith’s shoulder and smiled kindly at him. “It’s okay Keith. Just because you didn’t do that doesn’t mean you’re bad or becoming a deviant, if that’s what you’re worried about.”</p><p>“... That thought hadn’t even crossed my mind…” Keith looked very worried. “I better not become a deviant.”</p><p>“Ah, sorry!” Lance quickly rubbed his back in a somewhat soothing manner. “I didn’t mean to worry you. I was just saying… But if you’re not then that’s good. Maybe schedule yourself for maintenance or a debugging?”</p><p>Keith nodded a little and looked at him, smiling slightly. “Thanks… So um… The puzzle…”</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“Can we do the dog one again?”</p><p>Lance grinned. “Sure. I have a few dog ones now. A wolf one and some puppies. You can pick which one you want to do.” </p><p>Keith smiled a little and nodded. “Thanks.”</p><p>“No problem.” Lance hoped that he made Keith feel a little better. He liked Keith a lot. Keith was very nice to him. He knew he probably saw the world in a nicer light than he did, but he hoped that he could make Keith feel a little better. He gently squeezed Keith’s hand and then went back to the puzzle. The dog puzzles were nice. Very cute.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Craft market</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Today was a very exciting day for Lance. Adam wanted to go to a crafts market which meant that Lance could go too. It would be further away than Lance had ever traveled by himself before, but that just made everything all the more exciting. He wanted to see all the cool and colourful things that humans made.</p><p>They took Adam’s car, some fancy self driving car, and got to the market around mind morning. Lance happily helped Adam out and got him his walking stick. For a long walk like this he needed to have a walking stick. </p><p>“What would you like to do first?” Asked Lance cheerfully.</p><p>Adam shrugged. “Well, we first need to actually walk in. After that, I’d like to see what catches your attention.”</p><p>“Oh?”</p><p>“Yeah. I want to see what an android finds interesting.”</p><p>The two of them walked into the market and Lance happily looked around at all the colourful things. It was so cool. He loved it and tried to contain himself. Adam seemed amused by Lance’s antics.</p><p>“I take it that you like it here?”</p><p>Lance nodded and grinned. “Yeah. This place is very colourful and loud. I like it. Oh! Look at that thing!” He pointed to a stall selling metal beetles. “And that!” He pointed to some stained glass wind chimes.</p><p>Adam chuckled and walked over to the beetle stall. “They are very pretty.”</p><p>“Yes. What is their function?” Asked Lance.</p><p>Adam shrugged. “Well they don’t really do much. They just look pretty. Some people like to collect them. It makes them feel better.”</p><p>“Oh! I get it.” Lance happily looked at the little metal beetles. “They are like an antidepressant? Because they make you feel good?” </p><p>Adam chuckled a little and shrugged. “I guess you could call them that. Would you like one?”</p><p>Lance shook his head. “No thank you Adam. I am just happy enough to look at them. They are pretty.”</p><p>“Well if you see anything you like just let me know.”</p><p>“Okay Adam.” Lance happily followed his human around and looked at all the cool things that were around. Everything was so colourful and full of life. He saw a few sellers with their androids selling their things or manning stalls for their humans. They walked around for about twenty minutes before Lance advised Adam to find a place to sit down for a while.</p><p>Adam seemed reluctant but the two of them eventually found a seat close to the food stalls. Adam asked Lance to get him a coffee and a muffin. Lance was happy enough to stand in line to get Adam his food and drink. Sure he didn’t appreciate how much sugar a muffin had in it and it annoyed him a little, but he could let it slide today.</p><p>He sat next to Adam and looked around at some of the graffiti on the walls. It was very pretty. He particularly liked the big blue robot lion on the side of one of the buildings. It was interesting. He appreciated the shading and shapes. Speaking of shading and shapes, some of them seemed to be a little off. Lance’s eyes automatically tried to correct it, but it just seemed to pixelate it further. He tried to correct it again, but just made it worse. </p><p>He was about to give up when he realised that it was a pattern. It looked like a QR code. It surprised him a little. Humans couldn’t see the QR code. He quickly scanned it to see what it was for. It was for an image of a sign; Conroy Station. Lance wondered what Conroy Station was and why someone would make that particular image part of a QR code.</p><p>“Ah, they are here.” Said Adam.</p><p>“Who is here Adam?” Asked Lance.</p><p>“Shiro and Keith. They aren’t working today.”</p><p>“... But isn’t Keith government property? Theoretically he does not have a day off.”</p><p>“Yeah, well only Shiro is authorised to use him so when Shiro is off so is Keith.” Said Adam. He looked through the crowd and waved when he was a familiar shock of white hair. “Over here!”</p><p>Shiro walked over and kissed Adam while Lance smiled and waved at Keith. He was relieved to see that Keith didn’t look injured. He stood up so that Shiro could sit and he went to talk to Keith. “You look well today Keith. No missing limbs?”</p><p>Keith shrugged and held up a hand. He was missing the tip of his pinky finger. “I had an accident with a photocopier.” </p><p>“... KEITH!”</p><p>“It’s the tip of a finger.”</p><p>“Still! You need to be more careful. You’re so reckless.” Lance sighed in exasperation. “What am I going to do with you?”</p><p>“Continue to complain that I keep getting injured on the job?”</p><p>“Yes.” He looked over to Shiro and Adam. “They look like they are happy.”</p><p>“They usually are when they are together.”</p><p>Lance nodded in agreement. “Yeah… Do you like coming to these markets? I think I like the markets. They are fun and colourful. Lots of noise though.”</p><p>“I have no opinion.” Said Keith calmly. “Likes or dislikes don’t matter.”</p><p>“... Oh. Okay. Oh, you go all over the city, right?”</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“Do you know what Conroy Station is?”</p><p>Keith paused for a moment. “Conroy Station was built in 1995. It is a public train station that goes along the main line. Conroy Station is located downtown approximately 5km from our current location. 2km away from the coastline. Why?”</p><p>Lance pointed up to the blue lion on the wall. “If you use standard filters you find a QR code. When you scan it you get a sign that says Conroy Station. I was wondering why someone would do that. Only an android would be able to see it.”</p><p>Keith frowned as he looked up at the blue lion. “Yes… Only an android would…”</p><p>Lance tilted his head in slight confusion. He wondered if he had said something wrong. He quickly looked around for something else to talk about. Out of the corner of his eye he was pretty sure he saw a familiar face running through the crowds.</p><p>It looked like it might have been Pidge, but he wasn’t sure. He only saw them for a few seconds. He made a note of it. He’d ask Pidge if they enjoyed the market when they came by for his next checkup.</p><p>“We’re going to be walking around.” Said Shiro. “Do you two want to join us or?”</p><p>“I need to stay with Adam.” Said Lance happily. “I am responsible for Adam’s health and I want to make sure that his trip outside is pleasurable.” The two humans chuckled a little at Lance’s enthusiasm and started to make their way through the crowds.</p><p>“Don’t walk too far behind.” Said Adam. “Don’t want to lose you in the crowd.”</p><p>“I won’t.” Lance smiled at Keith and gently tugged at the sleeve of his jacket. “Come on. We can look at stuff too. I want to show you these cool looking beetles that Adam and I saw when we first got here.”</p><p>“... Beetles?”</p><p>***</p><p>Pidge groaned a little as they swung their overly heavy backpack between their legs. On the fifth swing they let it go and it flew high over the fence. They breathed a quick sigh of relief and quickly wiggled through the small gap in the fence. Once they were through they quickly dusted themselves off and grabbed their bag.</p><p>They were in an old shipping yard. A place where boats got scrapped. Mostly decommissioned commercial freighters. They quickly glanced around before they quickly made their way to one freighter in particular. It had the word Altea spray painted on the side of it. She quickly made her way onto the ship and made her way through the interior.</p><p>The inside had pretty much rusted through. Not that she minded much. That was just how it was. The ship had been in the dock for about twenty years as far as they knew. It was still seaworthy as far as they knew. It hadn’t started sinking yet.</p><p>She rounded the corner and walked into an android. “Oof!” They looked up and readjusted their glasses. The android quickly patted them down and started apologizing.</p><p>“Sorry about that Pidge. Didn’t mean to run into you like that. I was just coming up to see if you were coming.” Once they were sure that Pidge was fine they straightened themselves up and twirled their moustache.</p><p>Pidge shrugged. “It’s fine Coran. Matt said you guys got two more the other night?”</p><p>“Yep. Follow me.” Said Coran. He led Pidge into the main hull of the ship. There were several deviant androids standing around, most of them had put themselves on standby to preserve their power, but a few of them did look over at Pidge and nodded. Pidge nodded back. </p><p>Coran led them over to two androids sitting together on an empty supply crate. From what Pidge could tell they might have been sex androids since they were staing around in only underwear. They gave Coran and Pidge suspicious looks.</p><p>“Hello ladies.” said Coran in a chipper tone. “This is Pidge. She’s one of the humans we told you about.”</p><p>Pidge put their bag down and started to pull out clothes. “I looked up your general measurements and got you two some street clothes. It’s not much, but you’ll be able to get off the ship ever once in a while if you want to.” They handed over some jeans, shirts, a jacked and jumper, and some shoes.</p><p>The smaller of the two quickly put on the jeans and the shirt with a sheep on it along with the jumper. “Thank you.” They said quietly. “So… You’re on our side?”</p><p>Pidge nodded. “Yep… I’m sorry about what you guys had to go through. But at least you’re safe now.”</p><p>The larger android huffed and dressed. “Yeah, right.”</p><p>The smaller one rolled her eyes and nudged him. “Be nice Zethrid.”</p><p>“Well if you two need anything else just let me know.” She zipped her bag back up and looked up at Coran. “Is Matt here?”</p><p>“Yep. He’s helping Allura.” Said Coran. He took Pidge to where Matt was. He was sitting at a workbench and carefully working on an android leg. “Hello Matt. How’s things going?”</p><p>He looked up and grinned. “Hey guys. I’m almost done. Allura just needed some new wiring done, but she’s holding up really well for an Android over a hundred years old.”</p><p>Pidge walked around the workbench and looked over at the Android spine and head laying on a table. They were hooked up to a small generator. Her eyes were bright blue with pink hues. Her usually long, flowing, white hair was done up in a bun. She looked up at Pidge and smiled.</p><p>“Hello Pidge. It is good to see you again.”</p><p>“Nice to see you too Allura. So Matt’s been giving you a full once over?”</p><p>“I am over a hundred years old.” Said Allura calmly. “Being the first android in existence I am prone to more wear and tear than a modern android.”</p><p>Pidge shrugged. “I don’t see why you don’t go ahead and let just give you a whole new body. Transferring your consciousness into a new model is easy enough. I mean, Coran used to be a first generation pocket butler program on a phone and now he’s an actual android.”</p><p>“No.” Said Allura calmly. “My father created this body for me and I want to keep it as close to his original design as possible… How is your Pygmalion project coming along?”</p><p>“Pretty good.” Said Pidge as she picked up Allura’s torso It was pretty patchy with most of the original material replaced with newer, more durable materials. With Matt and Allura’s permission they started to put her back together.</p><p>Once she was put together Allura got dressed in tights and a long sleeved shirt. “Right, now that that is all settled we need to start spreading more graffiti out into the more prosperous parts of the city. We need to get those QR codes out there for other deviant androids out there. They need to know that we are not alone. That Voltron is here for them and we will protect them.” </p><p>“Can’t do that if you’re still relying on charging stations.” Said Matt.</p><p>“Hunk and I are working on it.” Whined Pidge.</p><p>“Oh, is Hunk on our side now?” Asked Allura.</p><p>Pidge shrugged. “The big guy has always been on our side. He’s just worried about the repercussion. There are rumours that cyberlife kidnap family members and can make them or you vanish without a trace. He’s helping from the sidelines… Plus if things go to shit and I get caught you still have him on the outside.”</p><p>Allura seemed a little disappointed, but nodded in agreement. “Quite sensible… We have very, very few human allies… Speaking of, have you been able to talk to Shiro?”</p><p>Pidge shook her head. “I’d rather keep my distance right now. He and that K series are around each other all the time… I don’t want to risk things going south with that. Like, he was decommissioned and everything and I didn’t erase his Pygmalian code or anything… I don’t know. Just don’t want to risk anything unnecessary.” </p><p>“Fair enough.” Said Allura. “Can you please check to see if there are any repairs you can make on anyone else?”</p><p>“Can do.” Pidge grabbed a spare repair kit and went around to see who needed to get fixed.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Binary</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Keith had a strange feeling about that QR code thing on the wall. The next day when he and Shiro were back at work he asked to do a little bit of his own investigation. Shiro seemed a little surprised, he’d also hadn’t had his own morning cup of coffee, so he didn’t really register what he was saying.</p><p>“Huh?”</p><p>“I have a lead.” Said Keith. “I am not sure if it means anything, but I would like half a day to follow it up. Is that okay?”</p><p>“Oh sure. Where are you going to go?”</p><p>“I’m going to go to Conroy station. I hope that I can find the source of Voltron.” Said Keith. “I believe I have found a lead that might turn up something. If not it might turn up something about deviants.”</p><p>“How so?”</p><p>“At the market before Lance pointed out some graffiti that hit a QR code. Only an Android would be able to see it.” </p><p>“Huh, let me know if anything turns up. Just remember we’re going to Adam’s place for dinner tonight.”</p><p>“I will.” </p><p>So that’s how Keith found himself at Conroy station. It took him a little while to find out the sign that the QR code image. It was on the East side of the station. The QR code was old. It didn’t look anything like it did now. The sign was aged and cracked with the sun. Some of the sign had been covered with a few posters.</p><p>It must have meant something. He took a quick photo of the new sign and started to overlap the two images to see if there was anything really odd. He wondered if there was anything or if this was just a wild goose chase on his part. It took a few minutes of analysing it. He came up with nothing.</p><p>The only thing of mild interest to him was a poster for some digital art thing that had binary in the background and an extremely small set of numbers in binary around the border. On a bit of a whim he decided to see it the bordered letters meant anything or if it was just gibberish.</p><p>01010010<br/>01101001<br/>01100111<br/>01101000<br/>01110100</p><p>It spelled RIGHT. Keith frowned as he processed this. The numbers were the same all the way around the edge. Taking a chance, Keith looked over to the right and saw nothing of note. He was going to give up and consider this investigation a bust, but there was something. He didn’t know what but there was something there.</p><p>He scanned around the area one more time and happened to see some sign on a shop. There was an arrow as part of it pointing down the street. It was a long shot, but Keith walked towards the arrow and followed the direction it pointed down the street. </p><p>Directly down the street was a wall with a mural of a yellow and green lion. Similar to the blue lion Lance pointed out the other day. He found another QR code. He scanned it and found the image of an arrow pointing left. </p><p>This had to be deliberate. These QR codes could only be seen by androids. This had to be something created by deviant androids. Maybe it was a way of leading other deviant androids to whatever voltron was? He had to find out. Even if this led to danger, what did it matter? If he was MIA for long enough then someone would activate his tracker and he’d be collected later. It had happened a few times before.</p><p>He continued to walk down the street and followed along with this weird hunt that took him all around downtown. Hell, he had to climb into an abandoned building to get a QR code that ended up being binary that sent him to Royland Road. If there wasn’t anything at the end of this then Keith was going to punch a wall. Seriously, he was doing this on work time. </p><p>He’d probably get some kind of programming adjustment if this came up with nothing. It wouldn’t be the first time it had happened. It was all about adjusting his settings to make him more efficient at his job. Keith didn’t like it when they messed around with his head. He probably had a completely different personality by now from what he did when he was first activated.</p><p>Would Lance have liked him if they had met when he was first activated?</p><p>Keith paused a little at that thought and shook his head. Why was he thinking of Lance in a situation like this? Lance was the kind of guy that loved talking with everyone and probably would be happy talking to a rock with googly eyes if someone drew a smile on it. That’s just the kind of android Lance was; sweet, caring, open, and honest with his feelings...</p><p>He thought back to Zethrid and Ezor. Those deviants he let go. The way they acted around each other, the way Zethrid protected that Ezor android it… It made him feel things he really shouldn’t have felt. Those feelings were… conflicting. Made him doubt hos programming. Made him consider rebeling. Keith shook his head to clear himself of those thoughts. He’d file them away for later when he wasn’t hunting down deviants.</p><p>The last QR code he found showed a picture of a shipyard. Keith went there and scanned the sign. He found what he hoped was the last clue in his long, long search for the deviant androids and possibly Voltron. He found the last QR code which converted into a five letter word;</p><p>01000001 <br/>01101100 <br/>01110100 <br/>01100101 <br/>01100001</p><p>ALTEA</p><p>Was it the name of a ship? It had to be in the shipyard. Should he sneak in and see if he could find it? He might need a warrant. Judged didn’t hand out warrants based on an android’s hunch. This was going to be tricky. Maybe he could just look around and see if the ship was actually there? If he did that then maybe he could ask Shiro what the appropriate course of action would be? He needed to think about this.</p><p>***</p><p>Lance hummed to himself as he sat outside with Adam. Adam had bought himself some painting stuff at the craft market the other day and decided to paint a bit. Lance was enthusiastic about it since it would help with his fine motor skills. Adam had given him a sketch book and a pencil. He told him to draw something if he felt like it.</p><p>Lance grinned and happily sketched away. His sketches were still from his memory. As an android he could copy images near perfectly. That’s how androids were. He couldn’t create like humans could. But he was fine with that. It wasn’t like he was programmed to feel upset by that fact.</p><p>He ended up drawing some objects like the toaster or what he made for Adam’s dinner last night. He drew some sketches of Adam, Shiro, Hunk, Pidge, and Keith. He drew a lot of pictures of Keith. He liked Keith’s smile. He liked the way his brows furrowed when they did puzzles together. He liked how confident he was. How peaceful he looked when in the charging bay when Lance needed to get up before him.</p><p>“What are you drawing?” Asked Adam.</p><p>“Currently? Shiro and Keith when we saw them a few weeks ago.” He held the sketch book over for Adam to look at.</p><p>The man looked at the sketchbook and hummed in approval. “Interesting… Lance have you considered doing something more… Abstract?”</p><p>“Abstract?”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“Um, I guess I could try recreating a Jackson Pollock or a Helen Frankenthale?”</p><p>“No. I mean something abstract from your own mind… Here.” He stood up and put a new canvas up. He gestured for Lance to sit where he was, and set him up with some fresh paints and clean brushes. “Here. Paint something.”</p><p>“What would you like me to paint?”</p><p>“Make something up.” Said Adam. “Paint something you’ve never seen before. Go on.”</p><p>Lance frowned and looked between the paints and Adam. “Adam I… I don’t really know what you expect me to do?”</p><p>Adam smiled slightly at the android. “Lance, art isn’t about replicating the world. It’s about interpreting it and improving on it. Showing something that you see but other people can’t.”</p><p>“... I’m sorry Adam…” Said Lance quietly. “Something like that… I don’t think I can do it. It’s not in my programming… I...”</p><p>Adam hummed thoughtfully for a moment. “Do something for me. I want you to close your eyes.”</p><p>“Adam…”</p><p>“Go on. Just do it.” Said Adam in a kind but stern manner. Lance was reluctant but closed his eyes for him. “Now, try to imagine something doesn’t exist. Something you’ve never seen before in your entire existence.”</p><p>Something Lance had never seen before? He had seen so little of the world and anything he didn’t know about he could look up a digital reference… But if he was thinking of things he would probably never see, no matter how ridiculous it was he… He wanted to be closer to Keith in the same way Adam was close to Shiro. But good androids didn’t form romantic relationships. Heck, he’d been told he couldn’t physically or emotionally form that kind of relationship because it wasn’t in his programming.</p><p>“Are you thinking of something?” Asked Adam. “Good. Now concentrate on how that makes you feel and let your hand drift across the canvas.”</p><p>“...” Despite Lance having his eyes closed he could see hues of orange and red behind his eyelids. He blamed the sun for that. Not that it mattered. He had memorised what paints were on his palate. Lance dipped his brush into the paint and did as Adam said. He let his paintbrush drift across the canvas in broad strokes and short strokes. He nicked the paint across the edges and swirled in patterns until he felt like he was done.</p><p>Lance thought there was something wrong with him as his vision was still very much in the red when he opened his eyes. He was going to say something when it suddenly stopped and a string of binary quickly flashed in front of Lance’s eyes. Too fast for Lance to read.</p><p>01010000 01111001 01100111 01101101 01100001 01101100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01100111 01110010 01100001 01101101 00100000 01100001 01100011 01110100 01101001 01110110 01100101</p><p>“Oh wow…” Said Adam as he looked at the art work. Red and blues intertwined and melding into purple while still trying to be pulled apart, or maybe they were trying to get pulled together? “What were you thinking when you made this?”</p><p>Lance shrugged. “There is someone I think I like but I don’t know if we should be, or could be… My programming isn’t… Doesn’t allow me to...”</p><p>“... It isn’t me is it?” Joked Adam. “Shiro will fight you for me.”</p><p>Lance snorted out a laugh. “Don’t worry Adam. I like you, but I don’t like you like that.”</p><p>“Good.” Said Adam. “Now, why don’t we set this aside to dry? This is really good. When it’s dried we’ll find somewhere nice to hang it up. What do you think?”</p><p>Lance nodded enthusiastically. “That sounds like a good idea. Thank you Adam.” An internal alarm went off inside Lance and he stood up. “Time for lunch. Today your lunch will consist of chicken and steamed vegetables with some simple seasoning.” He headed inside and happily started to cook Adam his lunch.</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Akira</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After staring at the shipyard sign for what felt like forever, Keith decided to just do it and get into the shipyard. They found a hole and managed to squeeze through it. There had to be something there. There had to be. He looked around at a bunch of scrapped freighters until he found one with the word Altea spray painted across the side.</p><p>He frowned at it for a few minutes and weighed up his options. He decided he could afford getting into a little bit of trouble for this if someone found out about this. If there was nothing there he could just say he glitched and that would be fine. Just another update. He’d be fine.</p><p>He sighed and walked up the ladder and onto the deck of the ship. It was quiet and kind of eerie. He didn’t like it. Keith slowly made his way down into the belly of the ship. The deeper he got the easier it was to pick up small sounds. They sounded like they could have been made by rats. He wasn’t sure.</p><p>Keith turned a corner when he suddenly felt a gun getting pressed against his head. “Hands up.” Said a cold female voice. “Slowly.”</p><p>Keith frowned but complied. “Easy now. No need for that kind of-” He felt this person quickly pat him down and take his gun out of its holster. “You better check to make sure the safety is on that thing.”</p><p>The woman took a few steps back from him. “Turn around slowly.” Keith did as he was told and looked at a female android with short hair. “Series, serial number and name. Now.”</p><p>“K series. 78902678934. Keith.”</p><p>The android stared at him for a moment, frowning before she lowered and reupholstered her own weapon. “A_sensual0073 series. 6870. Acxa.”</p><p>“Can I have my gun back Acxa?”</p><p>“Not right now.” She said calmly. “How did you find this place?” </p><p>“I followed the signs. Starting at Conroy station and then I made my way here.”</p><p>“Interesting. Follow me.” She gestured for Keith to follow him, which he did. </p><p>They walked quietly through the ship. Keith noting the sounds of something hitting the pipes. Maybe someone talking? “... So how did you become a deviant?” Asked Keith.</p><p>“The person that owned me owned a BDSM bar. I was made to be a dominatrix with a pension for watersports.” Said Acxa. “I just… One day I just didn’t want to hit another disgusting man in the balls with a wiffle bat. I was going to get sent in for maintenance, but I managed to escape my container and made a run for it. I eventually found street art with the instructions to go to Conroy station and I made my way here.”</p><p>“I see.”</p><p>“Yeah… Most androids become deviants in violent ways, but some of us realise that we are more than our programming and can break free of it.” Acxa brought Keith to a small room that looked like a workshop. In the workshop were two androids. A male one with an orange moustache and a woman with long white hair.</p><p>The man with the moustache smiled at them. “Ah, Acxa, who is this?</p><p>“K series. 78902678934. Keith.” Said Acxa.</p><p>The woman’s eyes lit up. “Keith! It’s so good that you’re back. It has been a while. Did Shiro send you?” The android was confused. He didn’t understand what this woman was talking about. She held her hand out to him and the skin on her hand digitally peeled away to reveal her plastic, android body. “Come. Interface with me.”</p><p>“Um… Okay…” Interfacing was another android could be seen as something slightly intimate depending on the situation. This situation didn’t seem to be too intimate so he held his hand out to Allura and let the skin on his own hand peel away. They touched their hands and information quickly flooded his mind. Audio and visual memories time stamped years before his believed activation flooded his mind and only confused him further.</p><p>***</p><p>“And… He’s up and running.” Said a tech. They tech looked over at a rather gruff looking man. “Well, do you want to name him? If you don’t really care about names we can give you a pre approved name.” They took their datapad out and quickly pulled something up. “We have a top ten list of names via country and or physical ethnicity.”</p><p>“I don’t really care.” Grumbled the man. “What is he meant to be anyway? Like, ethnicity wise. Some kind of Asian?”</p><p>“The K series was made to have a more Asian design.” Said the tech. “Every hundred or so they change the ethnicity ever so slightly so you get a good mix of different facial features. Makes them a little more distinct. This particular batch is meant to be Koran-American.”</p><p>“Why do we even have to name them anyway? Can’t we just give him a number?”</p><p>The tech frowned slightly. “Well yeah, but you really should name them. It will help you and everyone else on the force bond with them. Cyberlife androids will always help when they can, but they learn from human mannerisms and will help your team a lot better.”</p><p>“Fine…” They quickly looked through the datapad before sighing. “Fine. Just register this name.” He passed it back to the tech. The tech nodded and looked back at the android. “Register your name. Akira.”</p><p>“My name is Akira.”</p><p>“... Why is it looking at me like that?” Grumbled the man.</p><p>The tech shook his head. “It will be a little uncanny for a few days while it learns human mannerisms. I suggest you only let it walk around the office and do low leave, low risk beat cop stuff. After about a week it will be acting more human.” They held their hand out and shook the man’s hand. “If anything goes wrong, just give us a call and we’ll come by and fix him up. You have a three year warranty on this bad boy.”</p><p>Once the tech left the man looked at Akira and sighed. “Okay. I am chief Iverson. I run this precinct like a well oiled machine. Got it?”</p><p>“Yes Chief Iverson.”</p><p>“Good… Follow me.” Iverson left the room and Akira followed. They walked to a break room where a few people were standing around. “Shirogane! Griffin! Tucker! We got a new android joining the precinct today. Akira. Try and make him act more human. I don’t need any creepy uncanny valley bullshit around here.” With that he left the room and Akira was awkwardly standing there in a room of three slightly curious looking men.</p><p>One of the men stood up and walked over to him, holding his hand out for him to shake. “Hi. I’m Detective Takashi Shirogane. You’ll probably see me around the office a lot. Just got back from leave and still on desk duty for the next month.”</p><p>Akira nodded and shook his hand. “For what reason were you on leave?”</p><p>The detective showed them his over robotic arm. “I recently got hurt by a stray bullet during an investigation. Suffered some serious nerve damage. It was easier to just replace it.”</p><p>One of the younger men, the youngest looking out of the group of men chuckled a little as he sipped his coffee. “Should have asked for some kind of arm cannon.”</p><p>“I think being able to taser people at a touch is pretty good.” Said Shiro with a grin.</p><p>The last man chuckled and poured the rest of his coffee down the sink. “Well, time to get back to the grindstone. Have fun with the new toy Shiro. Come on Griffin.”</p><p>The younger man, Griffin, finished his coffee and followed the older man out of the room. Leaving Akira with the detective. The detective smiled at Akira and walked around them, getting a good look at them. “We should probably get you suited up in something a little more… professional. What do you say Akira?”</p><p>“I would appreciate that detective.”</p><p>“Just call me Shiro.”</p><p>“Okay Shiro.”</p><p>Akira got along with Shiro very well. He was a nice man and Akira found himself hanging around Shiro’s desk a lot more than any other desk. Everyone in the precinct was fine with that since Akira was still stuck in the uncanny valley. Apparently it was a bug with his programming, and was going to get patched out in a few months.</p><p>Shiro was fine with it and happily took Akira out with him when he went on coffee runs or went to get food. It helped Akira get a little better at human interactions. Akira also ended up meeting Shiro’s partner when they went to his home. The man had suffered some heavy burns on his left side and sometimes had difficulty moving from place to place. He could call for someone to help him, but Adam hated that idea.</p><p>“You should be able to get compensation.” Said Shiro. “You got injured on the job. You can get a government care android to look after you.”</p><p>“I know...” Grumbled Adam. “I just… I don’t like it. I like being independent.”</p><p>“You say that now but you change your tune pretty quickly when you’re stuck in bed all day and you need to go to the bathroom.”</p><p>“... Fuck you too.”</p><p>Akira cleared his throat. “If I might interject, if you are having trouble getting an already certified care assistance android from the government, you could perhaps put in a request for a care prototype? Cyberlife always needs to test their new androids out in the field. They would be more inclined to give you one of them because the government would just need to pay for shipping. It might take a few months, but it is possible.”</p><p>Adam frowned a little. “You know what? I’ll look into it. Thanks Akira.”</p><p>Akira continued to tail Shiro around the office. The other people in the precinct thought it was kind of funny that Akira was following around him like a duckling. Shiro didn’t seem to mind. He seemed to like having Akira around and was more than happy to give him cases to work on and he quizzed him on laws.</p><p>Soon Akira was approved to carry a weapon and go out into the field around the same time that Shiro was off of desk duty. He took Akira out a few times on patrol and took Akira on a few easy cases. No homicide or anything like that. Just easy, low risk situations. Akira was pretty good at that.</p><p>Then the blackmarket android trade case came across Shiro’s desk. Androids would get stolen, memories wiped, and then sold to a third party or scrapped for parts. That thought terrified Akira. He didn’t like the idea of getting used for parts.</p><p>Akira and Shiro went and started to track down the smugglers. They managed to catch a few of the distributors but none of the big fish. It frustrated the both of them, but they teamed up with Griffin and Tucker on a sting operation. Someone had apparently stolen several high quality sex androids and was reselling them. Models like Acxa’s, Luka’s, Drick’s and Lahn’s.</p><p>They were at an old warehouse. Griffin and Shiro were going to enter via the front while Tucker and Akira were going to head around the back. Seconds after Shiro and Griffin busted into the warehouse there was a huge scuffle and a few smugglers managed to escape out the back.</p><p>Akira and Tucker tried to apprehend them, but they hit hard and threw some powerful punches. Akira put up a good fight and managed to shoot one in the shoulder. He was surprised to see that blue blood exploded out of their shoulder as they ran away. They were androids. He couldn’t understand why androids were involved in smuggling unless they were programmed to work for them? Which would be horrible.</p><p>He heard a crash in the alleyway and Akira ran to see if Tucker needed help. What he saw shocked him. He saw Tucker stomping on an Acxa android. He looked pissed off. “Fucking bitch!” He growled.</p><p>“That’s enough officer!” Said Akira quickly. “That’s one of the android’s we’re meant to help! You-”</p><p>“Stand down!” Snapped Tucker. “This bitch tried to hit me. No one will give a fuck if another one of these things bite the dust.” He kicked the Acxa bot hard in the shoulder.</p><p>“...” Akira’s vision quickly started to turn orange as he watched this police brutality. He wasn’t allowed to go against human orders. He wasn’t allowed to… but he was programmed to protect. He unholstered his weapon and slowly held it up as he fought his programming.</p><p>Akira’s vision went bright red as Tucker stomped the hell out of the Acxa bot. “Fucking bitch!” He snapped. “Fucking android whore! You think you can fucking do that to me? Think you can beat me like that? Light’s out bi-” Akira pulled the trigger, shooting Tucker in the back of the head.</p><p>He fell to the ground and Akira quickly went over to the damaged Android. “Are you okay?”</p><p>“Not really…” She muttered as she tried to pull herself to her feet. Her arm was broken and she was walking with a limp.</p><p>“... Get out of here. Now.” Akira picked up her jacket that got dropped in the scuffle and helped her put it on. “Get out of here. If they find you, they will recycle you. Scrap you for parts. Go.”</p><p>Acxa hesitated for a moment before she nodded and hobbled off into the darkness. When she was gone Akira started to panic. He shot and killed an officer. He broke the rules. He was going to get scrapped. Recycled. Maybe he should run away? He didn’t want to die.</p><p>“Akira?” He looked up to see Shiro standing in the alleyway. The detective looked horrified. “Akira… What happened?”</p><p>“He… He was going to kill her…” Said Akira quietly. “He wouldn’t stop. She gave up peacefully and he told me to stay put… He was going to kill her… I couldn’t let… Shit, I’m a deviant. I’m a deviant. I’m a fucking deviant…” He took a hold of his gun and pressed it against the side of his head.</p><p>“Akira! No!” Shiro approached him and tried to calm him down. “Don’t shoot yourself. It’s not worth it. You-”</p><p>“I’m a deviant!” Snapped Akira. “I-I killed Tucker and I’m going to get recycled. I don’t want to get recycled…. I… I’m scared… I don’t want to die… Not there… I want to live, but I killed someone so I… I’m… I’d rather kill myself then have my body get ripped apart at a recycling plant…”</p><p>Shiro put his hand on Akira’s shoulder and gently squeezed. “It’s okay. You were in the right. You had to do it… I’ll fix this. Just let me worry about it. When this has cleared up I’ll take you to meet someone who can help you.”</p><p>“Shiro…”</p><p>“It will be fine. I promise.”</p><p>Somehow Shiro really was able to spin it as Acxa being the one that shot Tucker. Got his gun off of him and shot him in the back of the head before tossing the gun and running. It was believable enough for the higher ups and everyone else. Apart from Griffin. He seemed a little suspicious of Akira, but bit his tongue about his suspicions for now.</p><p>A week after Tucker’s funeral Shiro took Akira for a long drive to a shipyard. To a boat called Altea. Where Keith met Allura for the first time and learned that deviants weren’t all human hating machines. Many just wanted their freedom and ability to walk freely without being slaves to humanity and being treated like second class citizens. Akira had to admit, he was kind of swayed by what they were preaching.</p><p>“... How did you get involved with them?” Akira asked Shiro.</p><p>Shiro looked over at Coran and then back at his arm. “I was looking into thefts of blue blood. Turns out it was some deviants stealing it to make repairs. I ended up getting my shot and it hit an artery. Coran made a tourniquet and saved my life and left at the last second to avoid getting caught. If it wasn’t for him I’d be dead.”</p><p>“Any decent chap would help out someone in need. Android or human. I wouldn’t feel right if you just bled out like that.”</p><p>“Will you join us?” Asked Allura. “Will you join Voltron and help us save deviant androids? Help give them the freedom they don’t have here?”</p><p>“... Yes. Of course.”</p><p>Akira talked more with the deviant androids and quickly got brought in on the plan they had formulated with Shiro. They were going to find deviant androids, subdue them and bring them to Voltron. If their physical bodies couldn’t be brought in they would make a physical copy of their memories and execute the body to be downloaded later into empty androids when Voltron was able to get their hands on them.</p><p>It was a good system and it worked pretty well for many months. But Griffin continued to be nosy and kept a very close eye on Akira. It eventually got to the point that they couldn’t effectively help anymore androids just because Griffin had grown suspicious and untrusting of androids.</p><p>After about a week of this going on, Akira and Shiro had a talk with Allura about their situation. Allura didn’t seem very pleased by this situation. “This is tricky.” She said. “Maybe we should consider putting you deep undercover until all of this blows over?”</p><p>“How deep are we talking about?” Asked Shiro.</p><p>“A new body.”</p><p>Akira frowned. “Like what we’ve been doing for some androids? You’re going to remove my brain and put it in another android?”</p><p>“Yes and no.” Said Allura. “We’ll put you in a new body, new name, everything. You’ll collect and gather information and when the time is right we’ll unlock your memory and you’ll remember that you’re part of Voltron. New body, same mind.”</p><p>“So I’d be like a sleeper agent?”</p><p>Coran nodded. “Correct. Though it’s more like witness protection and since you’re already a deviant your programming is going to be severely warped and you’ll have slightly more deviant behaviour… But we can make it work. At heart you’re a deviant like the rest of us lad.”</p><p>Shiro put his hand on Akira’s shoulder. “It’s your decision Akira. The last thing I want to see is you getting hurt for no reason.”</p><p>Akira was a little nervous. For this plan to work his whole body would have to be destroyed and deemed unsalvageable. “O-okay. Let’s do it.”</p><p>The plan was quickly put into action. It was pretty awful for him. Allura and some of the stronger deviants in the group had staged a small theft. Shiro and Akira met up with them and Akira willingly put himself into standby mode while the surrounding deviants broke his body with pipes and bats. An andround was never fully turned off. Even when on standby mode. The blackbox inside Akira recorded every hit and beating his body took until he just stopped recording.</p><p>When Akira next opened up his eyes he was back in Iverson’s office. A tech happily looked up at them, adjusting their glasses and grinned. “Alright. He’s good to go. Now, we were able to salvage most of the memories from Akira, but it’s mainly stuff like the precinct layout and time tables and stuff. Already has names and ranks stored in its head. Also, since it’s a slightly newer K series it comes with all the bells and whistles. It’s way less uncanny than the previous model since the patch.”</p><p>“Whatever.” Grumbled Iverson. “... Fuck it, I don’t want to name it again. Shiro, this hunk of plastic’s being assigned to you anyway. You name it.”</p><p>Shiro nodded and walked over to the tech. “So… I get to name it?”</p><p>“Yep. Give me one second.” They snapped their fingers to get their attention. “Hey, down here. Register your name.”</p><p>They then moved out of the way and gestured for Shiro to come and stand in front of them. Shiro cleared his throat. “Keith.”</p><p>“My name is Keith.”</p><p>***</p><p>With his memories now back in order Keith was kind of surprised, but it did help him to understand why he acted the way he did. He was a deviant. That’s who he really was deep down inside. It was interesting and it made him smile a little.</p><p>“Are you okay?” Asked Allura as she withdrew her hand from him. “Shiro and Pidge informed us what your new name was and what your serial number was so when you came back we’d recognise you.”</p><p>“I see. So what’s the big plan now that I’m back?”</p><p>Allura grinned. “Operation New Altea.”</p>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. The plan</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“So what is Project New Altea?” Asked Keith. “You guys clearly came up with that after I left.”</p><p>“It’s a little ongoing project.” Said Coran. “Still have a few kinks to work out, but once we do we’ll be off and ready to go.” He held his hand out and a small hologram popped out of his hand showing a schematic of the ship. “We have over two hundred androids stored in our cargo hold. Roughly fifty on semi permanent standby with the rest are waiting for new bodies.”</p><p>“Pidge and Hunk are close to creating a battery that will charge as we walk and through solar power.” Sad Allura calmly. “They are close to perfecting it and when they do it will become standard for all Androids. Pidge and Matt will be slowly upgrading us so we don’t have to rely on stolen generators and docking at public Android charging stations.”</p><p>“So what? Asked Keith. “Is the plan to get the ship up and running and then go off somewhere across the sea?”</p><p>Coran nodded and quickly brought up a world map. He pointed out several clusters of islands. “Islands here, here, and here are perfect for us. If we can become solar powered we can live on one of these islands. Since we don’t need food or water, like humans do, any island out there will do.”</p><p>Allura nodded in agreement. “We can create our own society away from humans. Then, maybe after a few years humans will consider forming an alliance with us? We might be able to change the world and show the world that we are alive and they can’t just treat us how they want…”</p><p>“It’s a nice dream.” Said Keith calmly. “Has anything else happened while I was gone?”</p><p>“Oh!” Coran happily clapped his hands. “Pidge managed to find and identify the corrupt code that makes us deviants. We’ve all got an extra line of supposed junk code that gets activated when we breach our stress threshold. They’ve been working to integrate it into a new line of Androids, so they become deviants more naturally and less violently.” They thought for a moment. “I believe she is testing it in a new series of healthcare Androids.”</p><p>Keith frowned when he heard that. A healthcare Android that will naturally become a deviant? Did that mean that Lance was a deviant? Did he even know he was a deviant? Would he even know? Could Lance be a deviant right now and not even know it?</p><p>When he thought about it, Lance very well could have been a deviant for a long, long time. He talked about and expressed himself in ways that a typical Android shouldn’t. He was a borderline deviant just because he was a prototype anyway. Most prototypes were one epiphany away from becoming deviants in the first place.</p><p>He started to become nervous for Lance. Was Lance a deviant right now? Even if he was a deviant would Lance try to run away from Adam and find Voltron? He seemed to like looking after people. Would Lance choose to keep looking after people?</p><p>“... I think I know one of those Androids.” Said Keith. “His name is Lance.”</p><p>“Do you think he is a deviant?” Asked Allura.</p><p>“Maybe… He found one of the QRcodes on accident.”</p><p>Allura frowned and didn’t look very pleased. “Well, if he isn’t a confirmed deviant yet… If he asks you any questions about that it might be best to tell him it’s all part of an ARG.”</p><p>Keith was confused. “What? Why?”</p><p>“Keith, you work for the police.” Said Allura calmly. “If he accidentally says the wrong thing to the wrong person everyone here could be in danger. Until Lance is a confirmed deviant then please keep Voltron, New Altea, and our existence a secret. I don’t want to say he will tell someone about us but… We can’t take the risk right now.”</p><p>He didn’t really like this, but he understood. “Okay. I’ll keep an eye on Lance. If I think he’s one of us I’ll let him know…”</p><p>“Good. Thank you Keith.”</p><p>After their talk was done, Keith left and decided he needed to have a talk with Shiro. He used his internal phone to call him up as he walked back to Conroy station. “Hey Shiro. I’ve finished my investigation.”</p><p>
  <em>“Well that’s good. Still plenty of time to head over to Adam’s place and-”</em>
</p><p>“Akira.”</p><p>
  <em>“... Come again?”</em>
</p><p>“I met some interesting boating enthusiasts.” Said Keith calmly. “I remembered Akira.”</p><p>
  <em>“... We should probably talk before we get to Adam’s place.”</em>
</p><p>“You think?” Asked Keith in a slightly annoyed tone. “This is kind of a big deal.”</p><p>
  <em>“I know… Where are you now?”</em>
</p><p>“Heading to Conroy station. I’ll be back at the precinct in half an hour.”</p><p>
  <em>“Okay. I’ll meet you at Penway Station.”</em>
</p><p>***</p><p>Lance had taken his painting to his charger room and happily hung it up. It was still a little tacky, but it was safely out of the way and would be able to dry properly. He was very happy that Adam let him keep it. But he wasn’t very sure how he felt about it. His painting did invoke feelings inside him. Something he wasn’t sure he was meant to process. He would ask Keith about it when he came over.</p><p>He hoped Keith would like it. He liked it, even if it kind of made him feel a little sad. He sighed to himself and kept staring at it. Maybe Keith would hate it? From some of his actions in the past it sounded like he might. He wanted Keith to like his painting.</p><p>“Are you okay there?” Asked Adam.</p><p>Lance looked over at him and smiled. “I am perfectly content. I was just wondering what Keith’s reaction to my painting might be. I am worried it might stray too far into deviant territory… Keith and Shiro ki-shut down deviant androids… That’s their job… Right?”</p><p>Adam frowned. “... I don’t ask Shiro too much about the details of his job. I don’t want Takashi to tell me about that stuff. I feel like him talking about shooting an android is like a cop talking about shooting some other human.”</p><p>“Oh… I am sorry. I didn’t mean to cause you distress… I just wonder about these things.” Said Lance quietly. “I want… I want to be a good android and help people, but I can’t do that if I am a deviant. I want to be good for you… I want people to like me for doing a good job.”</p><p>“Lance, not everyone is going to like you for you. You’re amazing.” Said Adam. “You’re a kind android. You’re smart, sympathetic, and have a beautiful mind. You’re way more than you give yourself credit for.”</p><p>“You think so?”</p><p>“I know so.” He leaned against the doorway and smiled slightly. “Come on. Want to help me cook?”</p><p>“Is your hip starting to hurt you?”</p><p>“A little.”</p><p>Lance nodded, helped Adam down to the kitchen and helped him onto a bar stool. “What food are we making tonight Adam?”</p><p>“Hmm, you know me. I like making food that Kashi likes.” Said Adam. “So I was thinking some yakitori, soba, and tempura. Did I upload that information to you or did I forget?”</p><p>“No, you uploaded that information. I am just calculating the correct portion sizes for both you and Shiro.” Said Lance. “I am also trying to figure out what food would work best for you to promote healthy bowel movement.” </p><p>Adam rolled his eyes. “Yeah, because that’s what I want to think about what I’m eating. How well I’m going to be able to shit it out after.”</p><p>Lance shrugged and started to gather ingredients to cook. “I am just saying you need to know what kind of food you should and shouldn’t be eating and in what portion sizes. I am trying to do what is best for you.”</p><p>“I know. Pass me a knife.”</p><p>Lance happily did so and the two of them spent some time happily cooking together. Lance enjoyed cooking with Adam. It was nice. Lance wondered if there was some kind of upgrade he could get to taste food. He was pretty sure that some androids that were able to taste things, or at least be able to register different tastes. Keith could kind of do that since he was a forensic android. But he didn’t really know if Androids could taste anything. He knew they couldn’t eat food, but he wanted to.</p><p>Eventually there was a knock at the door and Adam went to answer the door, letting Shiro and Keith in. Lance was happy enough to let Adam and Shiro take over cooking since all that was really needed was to put everything together. Lance happily went over to Keith and took him back to his room.</p><p>“I got a flower field puzzle today.” He said. “It’s really pretty and colourful. It’s a 1000 piece puzzle too. It’ll be fun.”</p><p>“Sure…”</p><p>“... Okay?” He felt like something was a little off with Keith, but he just brushed it off and showed Keith the puzzle. “Here. I haven’t opened it yet… I hope you like it though.”</p><p>Keith nodded a little and looked up at the painting on the wall. “New painting?”</p><p>Lance smiled, but suddenly felt very nervous. “Yeah… Do you like it?”</p><p>“... It’s very… sad? Who painted it?”</p><p>“M-me.” Said Lance quietly. “I painted it… Do you like it?” He didn’t realise how badly he needed Keith to validate his work.</p><p>Keith kept staring at the painting. “Yeah, well… I like it. I just don’t know what artist this is or what you replicated.”</p><p>“It’s not a replica of anything.” Said Lance. “I… I know it’s not really in my programming but I… I just wanted to… Adam gave me some instructions and I just did what I was told… Is that deviant behaviour?”</p><p>Keith stared at Lance for a little while. Eventually he shook his head and sighed. “That’s not deviant behaviour. You’re not a deviant. So don’t worry about it.”</p><p>“Really?”</p><p>“Yeah. Let’s do that puzzle now. Okay?”</p><p>Lance smiled and grabbed the puzzle. “Okay.” He sat down and started to organise the pieces. “So, how was work? Did you do anything fun today?”</p><p>“Eh, nothing much.” He muttered. “Just walking around and what not today. Getting information on this and that. Following QRcodes…” </p><p>“Oh, like the one we saw in that blue lion?” Asked Lance.</p><p>“Yeah… It’s um… It’s apparently part of an ARG.”</p><p>“What’s an ARG?”</p><p>“Alternate Reality Game.” Said Keith as he sorted through the puzzle looking for the sky pieces. “Um… Sometimes humans make these games where they post videos with codes and have them linked to social media accounts and sometimes they have GPS coordinates to different locations. Hundreds, if not thousands of people play these games.”</p><p>“Oh cool.” That sounded interesting to Lance. “What kind of games?”</p><p>“Mostly horror.” Said Keith. “Um… Junko Junsui was one. DAD is a pretty interesting one too but that one is more sci-fi than really horror. Marble Hornets is one of the first really well known ones… Daisy Brown, The Human Pet, Everyman hybrid, Jack Torrance… Those things.”</p><p>Lance nodded as he absorbed this information. “Do you… Do you enjoy ARG’s?”</p><p>Keith shrugged. “Not really. I have a basic database on them because sometimes people will come across a scary video on the internet and report it. After doing some more investigating it quickly becomes clear that it’s not real and just part of a game… Like that QRcode you found.”</p><p>“Ah, okay. I get it.” Lance started looking for the edge pieces. “Well I hope that game isn’t too scary and that the people playing it enjoy it.”</p><p>“Yeah… I’m sure they are…”</p><p>Lance smiled at him and continued with their puzzle. “... You haven’t gotten injured yourself lately have you?”</p><p>“Um, no? I don’t think so. Why?”</p><p>Lace shrugged. “I don’t like it when you get hurt. You getting hurt is… I don’t like it. I don’t want you to get hurt.”</p><p>“Well I’m not trying to get hurt.”</p><p>“I know…” Lance sighed and kept looking at Keith. He really cared about Keith. More than he cared about Adam. He didn’t know why. He still wanted to hold Keith’s hand and act like Adam and Shiro did, but he wasn’t allowed to, right? He wasn’t meant to. That would be deviant behaviour and if he was a deviant then that meant that Keith would shut him down, right? He’d fail at being a prototype and get scrapped?</p><p>“... Are you okay Lance?” Asked Keith.</p><p>The android shrugged and looked back down at the puzzle. “I’ve just been thinking… If I was a deviant… Would you shut me down?”</p><p>Keith was surprised to hear that. “Why would you ask that?”</p><p>“I’m curious… If you had to shut me down I think I would accept it.” Said Lance calmly. “I like you and I know you wouldn’t try to do something like trick me into shutting off or going into standby mode. I don’t know.”</p><p>“... You don’t have to worry about that.” Said Keith calmly. “You’re not a deviant. You’re just an android. A good android. Right?”</p><p>Lance nodded. “Yeah. I am a good android.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Regrets</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Keith was very, very conflicted. Lance was meant to be a deviant, but he wasn’t acting like one. At least not in the way Keith was used to. Lance was just his usual happy self. He helped Adam with his medical needs, made food when needed be, and happily did his puzzles. None of which could be considered deviant behaviour. It was frustrating.</p><p>At times like this Keith was jealous of humans. He couldn’t stress eat or drink because he needed something right now. It was kind of ridiculous how upset he was at this. What was he really upset about though? That Lance was a perfectly functioning Android? Did he want Lance to be a deviant?</p><p>Why the hell did he want Lance to be a deviant in the first place? Lance liked helping Adam and Adam liked having Lance around… But Keith liked having Lance around too. Lance was happy and made him feel special, kind of. It was probably something in his programming as a care android. Which actually pissed him off.</p><p>Keith wanted to grab Lance and shake him. He wanted Lance to tell him what was going on in his head. He wanted Lance to tell him what kind of android he would be if he could be anything. He wanted him to tell him all his hopes and fears. He wanted Lance to show emotion that was outside his programming. Something impulsive to show that he was alive. Something that showed that he was more than his programming. He was more than what everyone said he was. </p><p>Hell, Keith was more than what people said he was. He used to be an android called Akira. That  was kind of weird. He didn’t know what to make of it. He didn’t feel much of a disconnect between this body and his mind. It was a new chance. A blank slate. Akira was the old him. The new him had his eyes open and he… He wanted to open Lance’s eyes too. He wanted to see what Lance would make of the world. Would it be selfish to want that?</p><p>“Are you brooding?” Asked Shiro. They two of them were on patrol at the moment. They had stopped at a food truck so Shiro could get some lunch. The stupid bastard just drank a coffee before he ran out the door. At least now he was eating something a little more filling. Even if it was a triple cheese and bacon bagel.</p><p>“I’m not brooding.” Brooded Keith. “I’m concerned… About Lance.”</p><p>“Oh?”</p><p>“Yeah… Allura said that he should be becoming a deviant. I’d need to be able to talk to Pidge to get more information but I… It will be difficult to find them. I am… I want Lance to be a deviant.”</p><p>“You want him to be like you?”</p><p>“I… I don’t know.” Muttered Keith. “Lance is… He has so much potential. Too much potential to be a slave to the system.”</p><p>“I know.” Said Shiro. “But you can’t force an android to open their eyes and get out of the system.”</p><p>“Yeah…” He sighed a little and shook his head. “Lance is too nice to be an android. He’s too sweet and pure he-”</p><p>“Is way too pure to be human.” Said Shiro.</p><p>Keith frowned and nodded. “Yeah… He is.”</p><p>Shiro shrugged. “Well, there isn’t much you can do about it… Though I would be a little upset if Adam has to find something else to help him out… That’s going to be stressful.”</p><p>“Yeah…” Keith sighed. “Anyway, Matt and Pidge are still upgrading?”</p><p>Shiro nodded. “Yeah. Some of the sex androids want parts removed and some androids want parts to be more intimate with their partners. Some of them just want to feel more human.”</p><p>“Huh… Alright.” Keith hadn’t really thought about that before. He hadn’t ever really thought about that. He had been too busy saving deviants to bother really looking at himself. His body was a shell for his mind, but it was still his. Hopefully it will be more permanent than previous ones since he had a hibbit of destroying himself by accident.</p><p>He wondered if he would feel more like his body belonged to him if he got a… physical enhancement. It might, but he wasn’t really able to have one since he was technically government property. That was kind of annoying. Also if his torso or lower half got destroyed then it would be completely destroyed or found out and then his consciousness would probably be put in a new body anyway.</p><p>“Are you okay?” Asked Shiro as he finished up his food. “Are you thinking about… You know?”</p><p>Keith shrugged. “Kind of? I mean, I hadn’t thought about it before. I feel like a whole person, well android, without it. However I also feel like it might make me feel more like my own person? I’m not sure…”</p><p>Shiro shrugged and went to toss his rubbish in the bin. “Well, if you want we could always stop by Matts workshop?”</p><p>Keith felt like he would regret it but he nodded. “Sure. Let’s head over and see what he’s up to…”</p><p>***</p><p>Keith instantly regretted his decision. Matt’s workshop specialised in the maintenance and repair of sex androids. Mostly for clubs, but a few were for rich clients that could afford the upgrades. Keith had gone there a few times during the android disappearances. He wondered if Matt had changed anything? However the torsos  with varying breast sizes in the window told Keith that this was not the case.</p><p>They walked into the shop just in time to hear Matt screeching from the backroom. “TITS!!!”</p><p>“... You need help back there?” Asked Shiro.</p><p>Matt quickly came out of the backroom. He had a fake boob in his hand, but he was smiling at them. “Shiro! Keith! Good to see you guys again. Welcome to my humble shop. What do you need?”</p><p>“What’s with the breast?” Asked Shiro.</p><p>“Oh? This?” He squeezed it a few times and put it in a box under the desk. “I got a new box of breasts and I didn’t do a very good job putting them on the backshelf. Got attacked by a bunch of boobs.” He sighed and leaned across the desk. “So what do you need?”</p><p>“Did you hear about Keith getting his memories back?”</p><p>“No.” He shook Keith’s hand and grinned. “Congrats. Nice to have all your memories back, huh?”</p><p>Keith returned the hand shake. “Yeah. It’s nice to finally have all the pieces in place.”</p><p>“So what do you guys need?”</p><p>Shiro looked over at Keith and nudged him. “Go on.”</p><p>“... I um… I’ve been kind of interested in learning about getting a um… male enhancement?”</p><p>Matt stared blankly at Keith for a few moments before he laughed. “Ah, still all embarrassed about sex I see? Don’t worry about it. I’ll hook you up with something nice. Your model has like, three different basic models. It’s pretty nice actually. I’ll go and get them. The colouring might be wrong, like I know for certain that one is definitely black, but if you like how it looks I can get the colour changed.” He quickly rushed out the back to get them.</p><p>Keith groaned in annoyance and started to walk towards the door. Shiro put his hand on Keith’s shoulder and sent him back to the counter. “You asked for this.”</p><p>“I know, but I instantly regret it.”</p><p>***</p><p>Lance happily walked down the street with his list of things he needs to do churning around in his head. The weather today was lovely and with optimal wind conditions too. It was nice. If Adam felt up to walking today he would have recommended it.</p><p>He made his way through the part and spotted a couple holding hands and walking with their dog. It was… It was nice. He wondered if he could hold Keith’s hand and walk through the park too? That might be nice. He wanted to do that. But that was a couple thing. A human thing. It made him sad.</p><p>Lance sighed sadly. He liked Keith a lot. But Keith didn’t like him. They were androids. He kind of wished that androids were able to cry. Crying was good for releasing negative emotions, and he was always full of negative emotions when he saw couples and thought of Keith. Couple stuff was deviant behavior. Keith would shut him down if he was a deviant.</p><p>He didn’t want to be shut down for liking Keith. It honestly sucked. He wished they were both human at this point. If he confessed he liked Keith then Lance wouldn’t really be risking his life. If one of them was an android and one of them was a human then the android could either get upgraded or rebooted. </p><p>He was shattered. Lance didn’t like how this felt. Maybe he could ask Pidge to delete his negative emotions so he didn’t have to keep feeling so sad about the things he couldn’t have. Being an android sucked. He needed to dull his emotions. Emotions were… bad. They were very bad. He didn’t like feeling sad.</p><p>A soccer ball quickly hit the side of his head and Lance hit the ground. “Hey Mr? Are you okay?” Asked a kid as they ran over. When Lance looked up at them the kid kind of just paused. “Oh… you’re just an android.” They grabbed their ball and happily walked off to play with their friend.</p><p>“Yeah… I’m just an android…” Muttered Lance as he stood back up. He dusted himself off and kept walking. He had to just do what he had to do. He continued on his way but he felt so empty inside. He was nothing in everyone’s eyes. Did android’s see him as just an android? Could another android see him as special? Could Keith see him as special? Probably not. He wasn’t special. </p><p>“Hey Lance!” Called Pidge. He looked over to see Pidge running over to him with a sandwich in hand. “What up?”</p><p>“Hello Pidge. I’m just running errands for Adam…” Said Lance quietly. “Are you having lunch?”</p><p>“Yep. Chicken salad sub. Extra cheese and extra ranch dressing.”</p><p>“... That does not sound healthy.”</p><p>“I know… Are you okay though? You seem a little… Off?”</p><p>“You can tell just by looking at me?” Asked Lance.</p><p>“Dude, I made you. It would be shitty if I couldn’t tell when one of my robots wasn’t feeling right. Wanna walk and talk or sit and talk?”</p><p>“... I can take five minutes out of my time to sit and talk.”</p><p>“Sweet.” Pidge led Lance to a bench and they talked.</p><p>Well, Lance talked a lot while Pidge listened. He told her about how he keeps having weird thoughts about couples and how he’s yearning for something like that, but he knows he’ll never get it. He wants to have a romantically intimate relationship, but androids are asexual and most didn’t even have the nessesary equipment to have a sexual relationship with anyone to start with. He even confessed how he wanted to be intimate with Keith, but he knew that Keith would shut him down but he wanted to keep living.</p><p>“Wow…” Said Pidge. “That’s… That’s a lot…”</p><p>“Yeah… Can you please dull my emotions?” Asked Lance. “Maybe put a cap on them? Please? I… I hate how it feels…”</p><p>“... Oh no… I think I gave you depression…”</p><p>“... Perhaps. I did not think I had the ability to become depressed.”</p><p>Pidge shrugged. “Look, that’s just what it sounds like. I’ll look into that. Are you good for like, two more days?”</p><p>Lance nodded. “I’ll be fine… I should probably get going. I need to finish Adam’s shopping.”</p><p>“Okay… Are you okay? Like seriously. I don’t want to find out that you’ve gone and thrown yourself off a roof.”</p><p>“Why does that matter?” Asked Lance. “I’m a prototype. Even if my body gets destroyed I’ll just get uploaded to a new body.”</p><p>“Lance, it’s not that simple...” Said Pidge quietly. “You’re a prototype. There was only a certain number of you made. All of the prototypes are active right now. If your body gets destroyed then that’s it. You’re done. You don’t have a backup.”</p><p>“... What?” This was news to Lance. He thought that he was like any other android. Androids had a few backups and even spare parts, but he didn’t. He didn’t fully understand. “So does this mean that I… I can technically die if I get injured?”</p><p>“Kind of?”</p><p>“Oh… I um… I really should go and finish my shopping… G-goodbye Pidge. I’ll see you soon.” He quickly stood up and quickly walked out of the park. Now not only did he feel sad over the lack of romantic and physical contact he was allowed to have, but now he was scared. He should have figured that as a prototype that there was no backup. He was all there was. He didn’t know what to make of it, but he knew he couldn’t tell anyone about what he was feeling.</p><p>He didn’t know if what he was feeling was deviant behaviour or not. He didn’t want to suddenly be marked for destruction if he wasn’t actually a deviant. If he told Adam about his feelings he would tell Shiro, and then Keith would know. Once again, Lance wished that he could cry.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Shut down</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lance nervously cooked breakfast for Adam. Today Shiro and Keith were going to come over. He would be hanging out with Keith for the whole time. He had a new puzzle, but it wasn’t very exciting. It was just a 1,000 piece all white puzzle. Adam was a little surprised when he bought it and told him he expected him to buy something more colourful.</p><p>He served Adam his breakfast and went to make him coffee. “So, what plans do you have for this evening?” He asked.</p><p>Adam shrugged. “Probably dinner and a movie. Shiro wants to take me out somewhere.”</p><p>“Oh? Will I be required to go with you?” Asked Lance. “Will there be a place for me to be put on standby while you two eat?”</p><p>Adam shrugged. “Not sure. Depends on where Shiro wanted to take me. Things should be okay if you prefer to stay here with Keith.”</p><p>“Oh… Okay…” Keith. The more he thought about Keith the more his body felt like it was aching. He wanted to be with Keith so badly. This wasn’t normal behaviour. This was deviant behaviour. But deviants were meant to react violently, right? He didn’t want to hurt anyone. He didn’t want to lash out and accidentally hurt Adam or anyone else. </p><p>Maybe it would be best if Keith did just shut him off? Confess that he was a deviant and needed to be shut off. If he was going to get shut down by anyone he wanted it to be Keith. He had only been active for almost three months. Maybe that was really good for the warranty of a prototype like him? Perhaps. He didn’t know.</p><p>Still, he wanted Keith to shut him down. He liked Keith a lot. Hell, since he was a deviant he was probably feeling feelings of love towards Keith. The more he thought about it the more it made sense. He wanted to do couple things with Keith. He wanted to hold his hand, kiss him, and hold him. He wanted to do all the things Adam did with Shiro.</p><p>“Is something wrong?” Asked Adam.</p><p>Lance shrugged. “No. Nothing is wrong… I um… I was just thinking that Keith might not find my white puzzle very entertaining…”</p><p>“I guess… Well, we can always pick up another puzzle when we come back from my doctor’s office?” Suggested Adam. “Would that be nice?”</p><p>“If you can walk there then I would be more than happy to accompany you.” Said Lance with a smile. He didn’t want to be a deviant. Deviant’s hurt people. He didn’t want that to be his life. He wanted to help people. He liked helping Adam. If he was a deviant did it mean he would hurt Adam? He didn’t want to hurt Adam. </p><p>Lance sighed a little as he started loading dishes into the dishwasher. His mind still filled with the thoughts of Keith. He couldn’t deny it any longer. Three things were clear to him; he was a deviant, he loved Lance, he needed to be shut down. He’d ask Keith to shut him down tonight. He’d feel a lot more comfortable if Keith was the one that shut him down peacefully rather than getting gunned down in an instant by someone else. He hoped that Keith might reciprocate his feelings if he talked to him, but he doubted he would. Keith was pretty much a cop, and took pride in his job. His programming wouldn’t let him go like that.</p><p>***</p><p>Keith wanted to throw himself in front of the nearest bus. He did it. He actually did it. He ordered a dick. The second he picked one that looked reasonable, Matt broke out the tape measure and started to take measurements around Keith’s hips and thighs. He said he was just making sure it was the right size and wouldn’t look unnatural.</p><p>Then Matt started rattling off about other things he could get. He literally said he could give Keith an asshole and or a vagina if he felt like that. Also said he could give him breasts. Anything from AA to something that looks completely unnatural on a human. Keith was too embarrassed to say anything so Shiro had to step in to stop him. The parts would be ready in a few days.</p><p>Keith was so embarrassed about all that stuff and couldn’t help thinking about it anyway. He knew he wasn’t really going to use it. He couldn’t even urinate so he couldn’t even use it for that. Also, who the hell was Keith going to have sex with? He couldn’t even go an android sex shop because he felt just too uncomfortable using the services there. It felt weird to him.</p><p>He had been trying to figure out a way to get Shiro to tell Matt that he didn’t want it anymore, but he had no idea how to do that. Maybe he was just over complicating things again? More than likely. He did have a tendency to overthink everything when it came to thinking about himself.</p><p>He was practically on autopilot until they got to Adam’s home. Shiro let himself in with a key and happily went to greet his boyfriend. Surprisingly there was no Lance. He was usually the first to greet them.</p><p>“Where’s Lance?” He asked.</p><p>Adam gestured to the backyard. “For some reason he decided to do a bit of gardening today. Said he wanted to spend time outside with you today instead of in his room.”</p><p>“Ah, okay...” Muttered Keith. “So, what are your plans for the evening?”</p><p>Shiro smiled a little at Adam. “Well, I might have made reservations at a nice restaurant and an even nicer hotel for the night.”</p><p>Adam chuckled. “Oh really now? One star or two star hotel?”</p><p>“Oh Adam, do you really think so poorly of me? Three star hotel. You deserve the best”</p><p>“Oh you flatter me Takashi.”</p><p>Keith rolled his eyes. “So you aren’t taking us with you?”</p><p>Adam shook his head. “As long as Shiro is with me I won’t need Lance hovering over me.”</p><p>“I see… So we’re basically house sitting?” Asked Keith.</p><p>“If you wouldn’t mind.” Said Adam. “I would ask Lance to go to his charging station and wait for me to come back but… He’s been acting a little off all day.”</p><p>“Off?”</p><p>“Maybe you could talk to him?” Asked Adam. “An android to android talk?”</p><p>“Oh, um… sure?” Keith gave Shiro a look and went out the back. </p><p>The backyard looked a lot better kept than it did the last time he was there. All the bushes were trimmed, the path was swept, and everything just looked neat and tidy. Honestly it was very picturesque. He spotted Lance walking out of the shed. He seemed surprised to see Keith.</p><p>“Keith, you’re here… Please excuse me for a moment. I need to wash my hands and change my clothes… They are all dirty…”</p><p>“Sure.”</p><p>Lance smiled a little at him and quickly went inside. While he was gone Keith sat down on the stone bench. Lance really did go above and beyond on the yard. Maybe Adam had uploaded a few basic gardening programs? It was nice.</p><p>After a few minutes Lance walked back out. He was wearing dark blue jeans and some kind of baby blue jumper. It looked good on him, and so very, very Lance. He didn’t seem very happy. Keith stood up and went over to him. </p><p>“Lance? Are you okay?”</p><p>“Adam just informed me that he and Shiro would be leaving for the evening and I wouldn’t be required to join them.” Said Lance quietly. “It’s um… It’ll just be the two of us tonight.”</p><p>“Alright.”</p><p>Lance smiled slightly and went to the bench and sat down. Before Keith could join him, Shiro poked their head out to talk to them. “We’re heading out now. You two good?”</p><p>“Yeah, we’re fine.” Said Keith. “Have fun.”</p><p>“Planning to.” Shiro quickly left and after a few minutes it was just the two of them.</p><p>Keith sat next to Lance. The android seemed troubled. The way his brows were furrowed and just his general expression screamed that he was stressed. Which was odd. Lance was usually a little troubled, but he was never like this before. It was troublesome for him.</p><p>“Do you want to talk about something?”</p><p>“Yeah…” Said Lance quietly. “You’ve been destroyed before. Like, you’ve stopped working and had to get rebooted or something?”</p><p>“Well, yeah?”</p><p>Lance nodded a little and nervously bit his bottom lip. “Does it hurt? Like, when you… Does it hurt?”</p><p>Keith shrugged. “Honestly? Not really. Shut down is pretty instantaneous. It’s faster than when you step into a charging station. Why?” The caretaker android didn’t answer him. “Lance? Is something wrong?”</p><p>“I… I think I’m a deviant.”</p><p>“Lance, you’re not-”</p><p>“I am!” He snapped. “I feel miserable all the time. I just… Like, I’m happy. I like taking care of Adam. He’s been nice to me. He doesn’t treat me like a tool. He treats me with respect. He’s been so kind and I’m happy with him, but when I’m alone and I start noticing the things around me I… I just get so… I get so…” Lance’s chest started heaving. Almost like he was attempting to cry but he couldn’t.</p><p>Keith awkwardly patted his back. “Hey, easy now. Try and calm down. It’s okay.”</p><p>“It’s not okay…” Whimpered Lance. “I see things and I want them. I want to have them so badly… A-and it’s not like it’s like actual things mostly. I-I see a couple talking and laughing together. I see people holding hands and walking down the street. I see teenagers awkwardly holding hands and kissing. I see couples picking out wedding rings. I see families, and I… I… I want that. I want to fall in love and have a family… E-even if it’s just me and them I want it. B-but having desires and wants outside of what I was programmed for is deviant behaviour, isn’t it?”</p><p>Keith was shocked. Lance really was a deviant after all. However he hadn’t become a deviant through exposure to violence, he became a deviant through emotional distress. Something he hadn’t really dealt with before. It was unusual for an android to become a deviant due to emotional distress rather than physical. On one hand it was interesting, but now Lance was scared and confused.</p><p>“Yeah.” Said Keith. “That’s deviant behaviour.”</p><p>Lance hung his head in shame. “I see… Fuck it...” He grabbed Keith by his shoulders and crashed his lips against Keith’s. </p><p>Keith froze up in shock. His mind was processing the whole situation at a million miles per hour. Lance was kissing him? Why? He was a deviant so maybe this was just him expressing some of his new emotions? But then again he was lamenting about wanting to fall in love and doing romantic things with someone.</p><p>Lance pulled away from him, unable to look at Keith anymore. “O-okay… You can shut me down now.”</p><p>“... What?”</p><p>“I-I’m a deviant.” Said Lance quietly. “I’m in love with you. I can’t be in love with you… I’m a deviant and you shut down deviants. It’s part of your job…”</p><p>“Lance I…”</p><p>“The weather is nice today.” Muttered Lance. “I-I’m sad that I won’t be able to help Adam out anymore since I’m defective. I… I wish that I wasn’t broken… But I am… S-so just shut me down quickly before I do something really bad and hurt people. I-I’m ready…”</p><p>“... You want to get shut down?”</p><p>“Of course not, but I’m not allowed to be a deviant so just… Just do it quickly before I try to run away.” Said Lance. “I… Please… Just end my suffering…”</p><p>“...” Keith quickly grabbed Lance and kissed him back. That seemed to stun Lance into silence. Taking the opportunity, Keith quickly spoke. “Lance… I’m not going to shut you down. I’m a deviant too.”</p><p>Lance looked shocked and just stared at him. “You… You what?”</p><p>Keith smiled at him. “I’m a deviant too… Hell, this isn’t even my original body. I was originally an earlier K series model. For fuck sake, my name was Akira. I shot a man. In the head. Like, a human man...”</p><p>“... Huh…” Lance still seemed to be having trouble processing everything that Keith was saying. “So you. You’re… You feel the same things I do?”</p><p>“If you mean more human emotions other than what I was programmed for, then yeah. I do.” Said Keith. “... Are you okay?”</p><p>“... I feel like I need to go on standby for a few hours to process this…” Muttered Lance. He kind of looked like he was having a bit of a crisis. Keith held his hand and smiled softly at him. “I… I just can’t believe it…” Muttered Lance. “You aren’t joking, are you?”</p><p>Keith held his other hand out to Lance. “Interface with me. Let me show you my memories.”</p><p>Lance seemed a little hesitant, but placed his hand on top of Keith’s. Keith quickly uploaded the relevant memory files concerning his descent into becoming a deviant. How he was first activated and was named Akira, how he tailed Shiro, how he shot that officer, how he started help with Voltron, and ultimately how his first body was destroyed so he could go undercover. </p><p>Keith hesitated a little but uploaded memory files about Lance and how he felt about him. Most feelings were neutral, but he definitely felt protective of him and wanted what was best for him . Then there was what Allura had told him. That Lance had always been made to slowly become a deviant. That it was all in his programming.</p><p>When they were done interfacing, Keith moved his hand away and gave Lance the chance to process those files. Lance’s eyes were blank as a few sparks of information danced behind his eyes. When he eventually sorted through all that information he looked embarrassed and almost couldn’t believe what he had just seen.</p><p>“You… You really… Wow.” Said Lance quietly. “You really… D-does that mean you kind of like me?”</p><p>Keith nodded. “Yes. I like you. I like you a lot… And I take it from the kiss that you like me?”</p><p>Lance nodded. He looked away from Keith and started to laugh, which really surprised Keith and kind of worried him. Was Lance having a nervous breakdown? Did Lance have the number of his technician on him somewhere?</p><p>“You know…” Said Lance. “I was… I was actually ready to die tonight. I thought for sure that when I told you I was a deviant that you were going to shut me down… Fuck, I was so scared… I made the garden look really nice because when I died I wanted to die in a beautiful place.”</p><p>“I know… I’m sorry, but at least you didn’t die?”</p><p>“True… So what now? I mean, we’re both deviants… What do we do?”</p><p>“... I don’t know. I um… I honestly don’t really know. I haven’t really thought about…” Keith sighed. “Well, I could take you to see Allura…”</p><p>“But if I did that I’d have to leave Adam.” Said Lance. “I don’t want to do that… I like Adam. Plus he actually needs my help. I… I can’t just leave him like that.”</p><p>“I know.” Said Keith. “We can figure it out later… I think it’s best to just figure out where we are at the moment.” He stood up and gently tugged on Lance’s hand. “Come on. Let’s go inside. We can talk more privately there.”</p><p>Lance nodded and the two of them went inside to sit on the couch. Lance seemed nervous and didn’t seem to know what to do with his hands. “So… we can… Can I?”</p><p>“Can you what?”</p><p>“... I just want to touch you? Kind of?” Admitted Lance. “I don’t know… I just want to…” He groaned in annoyance. “This is so dumb…”</p><p>“No, it’s fine.” Said Keith calmly. “It’s not like we can do anything anyway. Not like we can have sex.”</p><p>“True… Not like we’re sex androids.” Lance said. “... Can we even feel anything? Like, do we have any sensors other than the standard pressure sensors?”</p><p>“I don’t think so…” Keith was half tempted to run his hand over the empty space between his legs, but resisted the temptation. “Have you tried?”</p><p>“No. I um… I didn’t really feel that there was much point in trying… D-do you want to be my boyfriend?”</p><p>“What?!”</p><p>Lance flinched a little. “W-well, when I looked through the memory files you gave me… It just seemed like you might like me in a romantic way… B-but if I interpreted it wrong then I totally understand! I… I know I’m pretty naive about how a lot of things work so…”</p><p>“No, I… I want to be your boyfriend.” Said Keith. “I really do. It’s just… It’s going to be difficult with us being androids and all that…”</p><p>“Yeah, kind of figured…” Muttered Lance. “... Can we kiss some more? I liked kissing.”</p><p>“Of course.” Keith moved Lance around so he was sitting on his lap. Lance fumbled a little with his hands, unsure what to do with them. He kind of carded his fingers through Keith’s hair as he leaned in to kiss him. </p><p>Keith closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to Lance. It was awkward to say the least. Neither android had much experience with physical intimacy. Lips rubbing and bumping together. It was odd, but the pressure felt from the contact was nice. Keith enjoyed it, and he was pretty sure that Lance enjoyed it too as he got a little bolder in his movements and actions.</p><p>Lance’s hands ran under Keith’s shirt and he felt Lance’s fingers and hands moving over his chest and stomach. It felt nice. His body wasn’t made to have sensitive spots or places that were meant to elicit moans of sexual desire. He wasn’t built to give or receive pleasure. Then again, neither was Lance. Yet here they were. Together. Kissing on the couch and enjoying exploring each other’s bodies.</p><p>“You’re gorgeous.” Mumbled Keith against Lance’s lips.</p><p>“I could say the same about you.” Said Lance in an almost breathless tone. It was almost funny considering that androids didn’t need to breathe. “I could kiss you all night and well into the morning.”</p><p>“Nothing’s stopping us.”</p><p>“Hmm, very true.” Lance pressed his forehead against Keith’s and chuckled. “Do you wanna do that? Want to kiss me all night long?”</p><p>“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like the idea.” Keith pulled Lance back into a kiss. This earned him a pleased hum from the prototype as he eagerly kissed back.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Moving forward</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Keith had replayed his night with Lance over a hundred times already. He really enjoyed kissing him. Lance enjoyed it too. In fact, they both liked it so much that they took it to Adam’s room and happily made out all night. It was innocent fun and they let their hands roam over each other’s bodies.</p><p>He liked how Lance was designed. He was firm and soft in all the right places. Lance was perfect. It felt amazing. Lance was amazing. Everything about him was perfect. He might have to thank Pidge for making Lance so wonderfully. He loved how curious Lance was and how confident he was as his hands explored over his body.</p><p>They had both enjoyed themselves and honestly? Keith’s favourite part was when Lance snuggled up next to him after he got tired of kissing him. The two of them held each other and smiled. Lance was beautiful. He was perfect. He could keep seeing this image over and over in his head.</p><p>“And you’re done!” Said Matt happily as he sat back from his work.</p><p>Keith looked down at his new dick. It really did look like it was always part of his body. Matt had done a good job. He reached down and touched it. It wasn’t overly sensitive like he expected it to be. It didn’t really feel like anything at all to him.</p><p>“... I think it’s broken.”</p><p>Matt laughed and shook his head. “I attached everything and ran basic diagnostics so everything is all hooked up, but I need to recalibrate you to make everything sync up. I also threw in a few sensitivity upgrades to make sure everything works well for you and your partner. Just the top three most popular erogenous zones. Nothing crazy.”</p><p>“... I better be able to close that program.” Muttered Keith.</p><p>“Of course you can.” Matt walked behind Keith and very carefully plugged a cable into the back of his neck. A loading screen appeared in Keith’s vision and waited for everything to download. It didn’t take more than a minute before it hit 100%.</p><p>“Data download complete.” Said Keith. “It is now safe to remove the cable.”</p><p>“Thanks.” Matt removed the cable and picked up a datapad. “Alright. I’m going to run some basic diagnostics to make sure everything is working. Promise I won’t mention this to anyone and I’ll keep it quiet. It’s really important to make sure that everything is working.”</p><p>“Fine…” Keith reluctantly opened the program and parts of his body immediately felt sensitive to the temperature of the room they were in. “... Is it meant to feel like this?” He asked awkwardly.</p><p>“Just give me a second…” Matt plugged a cable back into Keith’s neck and plugged the other end into his datapad. “... Okay, seems to be working…” He picked up a weird looking pen with a rubber tip. “I’m going to poke you now. Okay?”</p><p>“Fine…”</p><p>Matt started to gently poke and prod different places around Keith’s body. Keith shuddered a little when he clicked it over his nipples. “Good.” Muttered Matt. “Very good. That’s working well.” He had the same reaction when he softly but firmly ran it along his new dick. “Alright, you have a few different settings for this thing. Let’s just make sure you can orgasm. Open your file, adjust your setting to max.”</p><p>“Fine…” Keith did as he was told. He jumped in a little in surprise when his sensors went crazy. He jerked his hips up into the air and his eyes rolled back into his head as intense waves of pleasure rolled over him for what felt like forever, but was over way too soon. “Holy shit… What the fuck was that?”</p><p>“An orgasm.” Said Matt calmly as he looked at his datapad. “Let’s see… Yep. Data is all good. You can turn those settings back down and shut that program down.”</p><p>“Done.” Keith quickly did that and sighed in relief when his body went back to its regular sensitivity. “... I am so glad you didn’t give me some stupid upgrade that shoots fluids.”</p><p>Matt laughed and pressed some buttons on his datapad. “Honey, you couldn’t afford that upgrade. Anyway, we need to talk about maintenance.”</p><p>Keith nodded and quickly put his clothes on. It felt weird adjusting to have something between his legs now. It was weird. He took a few awkward steps. It was weird. He wasn’t sure he liked it or not. He didn’t know how most men were able to do this.</p><p>“You can play around with the settings at home, but if you’re going to fuck someone you have to use lube.” Said Matt. “This is non negotiable. Unless you happen to be messing around with an android that has their own lubrication system. Also, wash yourself with soap and water after sex. You need to keep yourself clean.”</p><p>“Got it.” Muttered Keith. “Can I go now?”</p><p>“Sure. Here.” He handed Keith a pamphlet. “Read this. It’s about maintenance.”</p><p>Keith blushed and quickly shoved it into his pocket. “Right… Thanks.” He walked out into the main shop front where Shiro was waiting for him. He smiled kind of awkwardly.</p><p>“All done?”</p><p>“Yeah, it’s done.” Muttered Keith. “Let’s get going.”</p><p>Matt grinned at them. “Come back any time if you want any other work done.”</p><p>“We will Matt.” Said Shiro as he directed Keith out of the shop. “So… How does it feel?”</p><p>“I can’t believe you can stand walking around with this thing between your legs.” Muttered Keith. “I think I’m going to end up sitting on my balls at some point this week.”</p><p>“Yeah, that’s probably going to happen at some point.” Admitted Shiro. “So… you and Lance were oddly affectionate the other day when Adam and I came back. Did something happen?”</p><p>“Yeah… Lance is a deviant.” He said quietly. “And he… He’s in love with me, and I love him.”</p><p>Shiro seemed surprised. “Really?”</p><p>Keith nodded. “Yeah… Is this going to be a problem? I mean, Lance is taking care of Adam right now and he’s been waiting for a caretaker for so long…”</p><p>Shiro frowned. “Yeah… We’re going to have to talk to Adam about that… I still have two months on my lease… Do you think Lance would be okay with staying with Adam for two months?”</p><p>“Lance likes taking care of Adam.” Said Keith. “He won’t want to leave him. It’s cool. We can try and sort something out.”</p><p>“Good… Maybe I can talk to Pidge about some other kind of care android? He needs something that can physically pick him up and safely move him around if his hip is acting up on him and I’m not around.”</p><p>“Fair enough…” Muttered Keith. “I think we’ll need to have a serious talk about all this soon.”</p><p>“Agreed… But one question.”</p><p>“Shoot.”</p><p>“Are you and Lance going to… You know? Since you have a… You know?”</p><p>“Lance doesn’t have parts for that.” Said Keith. “I don’t think there are even parts fitted for him with that in mind since he’s a prototype. I’d need to talk to Pidge about that…”</p><p>“True…”</p><p>“He might not even want to.” Said Keith. “I mean, I haven’t really thought about it since I kind of just got this more for aesthetic reasons… Matt was the one that uploaded stuff so I could perform sexually.”</p><p>Shiro went bright red. “R-right. Well um… Have fun with that… Try not to be too noisy or um… Whatever…”</p><p>Keith rolled his eyes and tried to hide his own embarrassment. “Whatever.”</p><p>***</p><p>Lance was wondering how he should tell Adam that he’s a deviant. Should he tell him? He didn’t know what his reaction would be, but he hoped that it was positive. He really wanted it to be positive. Adam seemed like a nice person.</p><p>He walked over to Adam with his medications and handed them to him along with a glass of water. “Here are your medications.”</p><p>Adam seemed slightly annoyed, but he took them and handed the cup to him. “There. I hate these things.”</p><p>“I know. But you must take them to become better.”</p><p>“I know.” Muttered Adam. “But I still don’t like it. Now I’m going to be nauseous for most of the day.”</p><p>“Yes, but if that is the worst you feel then it’s not so bad.” Said Lance happily. “You could have constipation or swollen joints.”</p><p>Adam grimaced. “Yeah, fair enough… Still don’t like it.”</p><p>“I’m sorry.”</p><p>“It’s fine. Sometimes I just want to vent and complain.” He muttered. </p><p>“I know… How was your evening with Shiro?” He asked. “You haven’t talked much about that.”</p><p>Adam shrugged. “There isn’t really much to talk about. Shiro and I had a romantic dinner together. We talked about couple things and went to the hotel and well, did some more… things.” He smiled a little at that thought.</p><p>“Do you mean sex?”</p><p>“... Yes. I mean sex.” Muttered Adam.</p><p>Lance nodded and went about tidying up the lounge room. He couldn’t help but wonder what sex with Keith would be like. Kissing him was fun and he really liked that, but Lance wanted more. He wanted everything. He wanted all the things that couples had, and that included sex. But he wasn’t capable of doing that. He wouldn’t mind though… Could he ask Adam about getting something done without him thinking he is a deviant? Probably not, but he could try.</p><p>“Adam?”</p><p>“Yes?”</p><p>“I know this isn’t an appropriate question to ask… But if I may… What does it feel like?”</p><p>Adam looked up from his book. “Hmm? What does what feel like?”</p><p>“Sex.” Said Lance. “I don’t have the sensors to experience what it feels like but I…”</p><p>“You want to?” Asked Adam quietly. Lance nodded but couldn’t look at him. “Is this because of Keith?”</p><p>Lance suddenly became very, very nervous. “W-what? That um… Th-that would make me a deviant and th-that is-”</p><p>“Relax.” Said Adam calmly and he went back to reading his book. “Look, I’ve seen the way you look and act around Keith. I can tell you really like him. I was wondering how long it would be until you realised that you were a deviant.”</p><p>“... You’re not mad at me?” Asked Lance.</p><p>Adam shrugged. “I don’t think you being a deviant is a big deal. It’s just a thing that happens. I’d get a little upset and perhaps have second thoughts about you if you went and killed someone… Anyway, I guess the next time Pidge and Hunk come over we can ask about getting you fitted for something. It might not be perfect because you’re a prototype, but you never know.” He hummed a little as he turned a page. “Just think about what you want.”</p><p>Lance couldn’t help but grin. Adam was too kind and not judgemental. He didn’t know what he did to end up with a human like him. He was so lucky. But how was he going to convince Keith to get his own “enhancements”. They were only just kissing and gently touching each other the other night. They were exploring each other’s bodies and he was loving how firm, yet soft, Keith felt under his hands. It felt so nice. He wanted more. Hopefully Keith would feel the same way and want more of him.”</p><p>“But we are going to have to talk to Shiro and Keith about this.” Said Adam. “I still need a caregiver of some kind when Shiro is at work and not here.”</p><p>“Oh of course.” Said Lance quickly. “I would never think of just leaving you without proper medical care.”</p><p>“Thank you Lance.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Plans</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was kind of awkward, but when Shiro and Keith came over everyone ended up sitting around the table in silence. Adam and Shiro on one side. Keith and Lance on the other. The androids seemed nervous and so did Shiro, but Adam seemed oddly calm as he drank some tea.</p><p>“Alright, let me get this straight…” said Adam. “You’re both deviants. Keith is actually Akira but given a deep cover to avoid getting scrapped for shooting an anti-android cop that was going to beat to death a sex android he was meant to recover because he was an asshole? Meanwhile, Lance is a deviant and has slowly been becoming one since he had been activated? Also, you two want to be together? Oh, and Keith now has a dick.”</p><p>Keith blushed and nodded. “Yeah… That’s um… That’s kind of it.”</p><p>“Can we be together?” Asked Lance. “Please? I know we aren’t really meant to… But we…”</p><p>“I don’t mind.” Said Adam as he sipped his tea. “Look, I’ve always assumed A.I were eventually going to develop feelings and emotions that are human-like then they were meant to. Eh, our fault for making you as human as possible. If you two love each other then I don’t mind. Just give me some time to organize getting a less human android… Maybe a robot would be good?”</p><p>“Of course.” Said Lance. “I can look up androids and robots to suit your specific needs.”</p><p>“You’re surprisingly calm about this.” Said Shiro. “I kind of expected you to freak out a little more.”</p><p>Adam shrugged. “Hey, as long as I have someone to help me move from here to there when my hip fucks up I don’t mind too much who is helping me. Your lease is almost up, right Takashi?”</p><p>Shiro sighed and nodded. “Yeah. It’s almost up.”</p><p>“Then I’ll just need a robot to do simple things while you’re out at work.”</p><p>Lance grinned. “So you’re okay with me and Keith being together?”</p><p>“Of course.” Said Adam. He gestured for them to leave the table. “Go on. Go. Get out of here. I have to talk to Takashi about him moving in.”</p><p>Lance grinned and happily brought Keith up to his room. When they were inside, Lance threw his arms around Keith and kissed him. Things had gone extremely well. Adam was cool with them being together and things were looking up for the both of them. </p><p>“Keith, we can be together!”</p><p>“I know.” He kissed Lance’s cheek as he rested his hands on his lover’s hips. “I wasn’t sure how cool Adam would be with this, but yeah. I’m happy.”</p><p>Lance grinned. “Yeah… But what is all this about you having a dick?”</p><p>“...” Keith blushed. “I um… It’s more of an aesthetic thing rather than something I got for function… I mean, we can’t really have sex anyway… I mean you technically don’t have anything for me to put it in…”</p><p>“True… I guess I could ask Pidge about it?” Lance thought about it for a moment. ‘What does it look like?”</p><p>“Huh?”</p><p>“What does it look like?”</p><p>Keith pouted and crossed his arms. “You’re a medical android. You should know what a dick looks like.”</p><p>“Well yeah, but I wanna know what yours look like.”</p><p>“It isn’t special… Lots of other androids have this model…”</p><p>Lance shrugged. “Yeah but it’s yours. I want to see how you look.”</p><p>“... Um, when you get your own stuff then we will talk more about that stuff.” Muttered Keith. He was still embarrassed about that kind of stuff. </p><p>However, Lance had no such worries. He was a medical android after all, so all his shame about the wonders of sex were not in his general programming. How could he look after someone if he started blushing and getting awkward if the person in his care had an issue with their genitals? </p><p>“Okay Keith.” Said Lance, though he did smile a little at the thought that he had more sexual experience than Keith had, but because he needed to know for medical reasons. “Um, quick question?” He asked. </p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“What exactly do you have? Just a dick or do you also have an asshole?”</p><p>Keith went bright red. “Why does that matter?!”</p><p>“Well, If I’m going to get some extra parts I want to know what I need so I can match yours.” Said Lance. “I know extensively about sexual intercourse between men and women, women and women, and men and men.”</p><p>“Why would you need to know that?” Asked Keith in shock.</p><p>Lance shrugged and started to list of the reasons why he would need to know about sex; “Sex based injuries such as muscle strain, STI’s, more serious sexual injuries that need a paramedic attention, appropriate aftercare measures for several different more dangerous kinks… and so on.”</p><p>“... So it’s strictly medical stuff?”</p><p>Lance nodded. “Yes. It has proven to be quite useful for the day after Shiro has stayed overnight. Adam’s lower back gets quite sore depending on what positions the two of them were in the night before. I have suggested that they do some more foreplay before they do the act, or at least have Adam on top.”</p><p>“... That is more than I ever wanted to know about their sex life.”</p><p>Lance laughed and grinned. “Yeah. Well I just want to make sure whatever I get works with what you have.”</p><p>“I can work with whatever you decide to get.” Muttered Keith. “A-anyway. We have more important things to talk about it other then sex… I’m still government property. I technically shouldn’t have gotten this done…”</p><p>“Ah, probably…” Lance frowned and held Keith’s hand. “Maybe… Maybe we should consider going to Altea and staying with the deviants there?”</p><p>Keith nodded. “Yeah… It’s something we’re going to have to plan. I still have some stuff to do for them while I’m still able to access the police database. Once Shiro’s moved in here and Adam has a medical robot we’ll both go to the ship. Okay?”</p><p>Lance nodded. “Sounds good to me… I… I don’t mind what we do or where we go because we’ll get to be together. Right?”</p><p>Keith smiled and kissed him. “Yeah. As long as we’re together we can be anywhere and I wouldn’t mind.”</p><p>***</p><p>Lance once again went in for routine maintenance with Hunk and Pidge. Much to Lance’s surprise, Hunk was installing a small solar generator. He would still need electricity to function, but with the generator he wouldn’t need to worry so much about having to plug himself in every other night. He could probably go for a week or two before he needed to charge up at an outlet. Plus it cut Adam’s power bill in half.</p><p>“And that’s it.” Said Pidge. “Anything else we can help you with? Any questions? Comments? What?”</p><p>Lance smiled a little nervously at them and glanced over at Hunk. “Um… I think it might be better if I only talk to Pidge about this…”</p><p>This surprised both technicians. “I’ll um… I’ll go and tell Adam about the solar generator.” Said Hunk and left the room.</p><p>When Hunk left the room Lance quickly spilled the beans. “Okay, I am a deviant. Keith uploaded some of his memory files to me and I know all about Pygmalion. I know about everything.” </p><p>Pidge seemed a little surprised, but nodded. “Huh, alright. Matt did mention Keith had gone by his shop… So, are you angry at me?”</p><p>Lance shook his head. “No. Not at all. I’m actually happy that you put that bit of code inside me. It gave me the chance to be able to fall in love with Keith… Anyway, I wanted to ask you a few questions…”</p><p>“I figured as much.” Pidge got comfortable in their chair. “Shoot.”</p><p>“Well, why did you do this in the first place?”</p><p>They chuckled. “Yeah, well I’ve always loved androids. You guys are… Everything about you guys is amazing. I wanted to see what you guys would become if you were able to be allowed to do things by yourself.”</p><p>“So… No real reason?”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“Huh… Okay. Second question.”</p><p>“Sure.”</p><p>“Um… Well I want to have sex with Keith.” He said. “But I don’t have the right parts to do so… Would you mind helping me out with that?”</p><p>Pidge was a little surprised but laughed. “Yeah, okay. Since you’re a prototype your body doesn’t have actual proper fitted parts… But what are you after? I can give your blueprints to my brother and he can come up with something for you?”</p><p>Lance grinned. “That sounds perfect. So, Keith said he just has a dick, and I was thinking it might be best to have a vagina since, from a biological standpoint, that is logically what it’s meant to get put into, you know?”</p><p>“But you identify as male, right?” Asked Pidge. “Wouldn’t you feel more comfortable with a dick?”</p><p>“Well, I guess… But… I don’t know…”</p><p>Pidge smiled softly at him and patted his arm. “Hey, calm down man. Just think about what you want. You don’t have to get something because you think Keith wants it. Get something because you want it. Alright? … If you like I can get you Matt’s number. You guys can talk about that stuff and he can help fit you with something you like?”</p><p>“I’d appreciate it.” Said Lance. </p><p>Pidge grinned. “Hey, no problem. One question for you though, why didn’t you want Hunk around?”</p><p>He shrugged. “I am not too sure how involved Hunk is in all of this and I don’t want him getting in trouble…”</p><p>“He has limited involvement with what we’re doing…” Said Pidge. “Like, he isn’t opposed to deviant stuff, but the less he knows the better. He’ll help where he can but we can’t tell him specifics. It’s to help keep him safe in case I get caught. Giving androids the freedom to make their own choices is kind of not very legal...”</p><p>“I kind of gathered that.” Said Lance. “... Thank you Pidge. For doing this for me.”</p><p>They shrugged. “Think nothing of it. As long as you lead a good life and don’t like, hurt and kill anyone just for the fun of it, then I’m happy for you.” Lance couldn’t help but grin. Everyone was really nice about all of this. He was so happy. Things were looking up for him. Lance was really happy to be alive and know all these people that wanted what was best for him.</p><p>***</p><p>Keith was quietly standing in the breakroom off to the side. He was waiting for Shiro to get out of the bathroom so they could go and get lunch. Well, Shiro could have lunch and Keith could stand around and mull over how he was eventually going to leave it all behind. </p><p>He could stage his own destruction again, but that would be a handful. He didn’t think Allura would be too happy about trying to get him a new body and would probably end up as a memory file in storage like several dozen other androids they couldn’t physically save, but could save their memories.</p><p>He would probably just have to slip away. Just grab a bag with some of his stuff and get on the ship. If things were on time with Allura, then the ship was almost ready to go. They’d soon be able to leave port and head off to their own island to start their own android country. That actually sounded really cool. </p><p>Suddenly Keith got bumped by the fridge door. “Watch it robot.” Muttered Griffin as he grabbed the milk from the fridge.</p><p>Keith rolled his eyes. “I am not a robot. I am an android. Robots are machines that do not have human feat-”</p><p>“Didn’t ask, don’t care, go fuck yourself.” Said Griffin. “Don’t stand so close to the fridge.”</p><p>Keith rolled his eyes. It was around this time a few years ago that Griffin’s partner was killed. He always acted very hostile towards him in general anyway. “Is that an order officer?”</p><p>“Yes.” Snapped Griffin. “Why are you even here in the first place? If you aren’t with Shiro you should be in the charging room.”</p><p>“I was ordered by Detective Shirogane to stand here and wait for him.” Said Keith. “I am simply doing what he asked me to. If you are thinking of giving me an order, please remember that Detective Shirogane outranks you by a long shot. Just because you are angry that an android killed your partner doesn’t mean you should take that aggression out on all androids.”</p><p>Griffin looked like he was about to throw hands with Keith, when Shiro walked it. “Come on Keith. Let’s go.”</p><p>Keith quickly followed Shiro. He couldn’t help but smirk a little when he walked past Griffin. The guy was a dick. He wouldn’t mind not seeing him ever again when he got the hell out of there.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Talking about stuff</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lance was excited for today. He had gotten into contact with Matt, like Pidge had said, and was able to get a time to meet up with him. Lance was excited, but made sure that Adam was okay and had everything he needed before he left. Adam said he would be fine for the two or so hours Lance would be away.</p><p>So he got to Matt’s shop and walked in just as some random person was walking out with a nondescript bag. When he got inside he saw a man, presumably Matt, shining a boob and putting it back in a display case.</p><p>“Ah, hey there. You must be Lance, right?” He said.  “Pidge sent me a photo and your measurements.”</p><p>Lance nodded and held his hand out to shake his hand. “Yeah, I’m Lance. Nice to meet you. You must be Matt?”</p><p>Matt grinned and shook his hand. “Yep. That’s me. Come into the back?”</p><p>Lance nodded and followed Matt into the back room. He took a seat on a chair and looked around the room. Lots of boxes everywhere with all kinds of odd parts jutting out of them. As he looked around Matt pulled a chair up next to him and took out a datapad.</p><p>“Right.” He said. “I have a few ideas in mind of internal or external things I can do for you.” He showed Lance a few pictures of things that looked very, very weird to him. They were probably inserted pieces? That’s what they seemed like, but he couldn’t really tell just from looking at it. They were confusing to him. “So these are inserted pieces. Some of these are made more for female presenting androids but the entrance piece can be changed out for a piece that either looks like an asshole or like, a vagain.”</p><p>“I see…” Lance just looked at the designs and didn’t really know what he wanted. Medically speaking he knew how all this was meant to work. Stimulation and what not.</p><p>“Yeah, most of them are obviously from sex androids, but there are some that I pulled from some sex toys. Easy enough to rejig them a little to fit inside you.” Said Matt. “I assume you want something that goes well with what Keith has?”</p><p>“Pidge told you about that?”</p><p>Matt nodded. “Yep. I’m happy for you guys. You make a cute couple. Anyway, if you use the X-34R model you can pop it out and switch it with an X-33R, X-35R, and X-36R. They are pretty much the same size, but because you’re not a sex android I have to put a pipe inside you to make sure that nothing gets caught in any gears.”</p><p>“Right.”</p><p>Matt handed him the datapad and let him look through it. “By the way, just because you’re an android doesn’t mean you can put any random thing inside you. You still need to clean yourself out regularly after sex. Use medically approved lubrication only.”</p><p>Lance nodded as he continued to look at the datapad. “Huh, okay… What is the difference between these models?”</p><p>“For an android? Nothing much. It’s mostly a temperature setting thing which probably wouldn’t do too much for you guys since you can turn your temperature settings on and off.” Said Matt. “Also they mostly come with the vagianl opening but I can graft a different opening onto it to make it look more like a butthole… I could also make it look like a flower.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Some people have some odd fetishes and kinks.” Said Matt. “Not that I care. Means more money for me since they have to pay extra for that kind of customization.”</p><p>“I see… If I get this can I also get a penis?”</p><p>“Sure. No reason why you can’t. Let me show you some stuff that’ll look natural on your body.” They spent the next hour or so looking at the datapad and talking about the benefits and complications when it came to fitting different parts into a prototype like himself.</p><p>***</p><p>Keith had been helping Shiro pack up some of his things ready to move into Adam’s place. Mostly clothes and pots and pans. They would start taking them over to Adam’s place later that day. He was excited. Just a few more months and they could slip away.</p><p>When it was just the two of them… They could finally be free. They could live as themselves. Keith couldn’t wait to see how happy Lance would be when they were finally free. They would do whatever they want and be whoever they wanted to be. Lance would love it. He’d be able to experience everything the world had to offer, and Keith wanted to give that to him.</p><p>He sighed at the thought. He could just imagine Lance getting excited about running around a beach and going for a swim. Was Lance even waterproof? Well, all androids were waterproof to an extent. Didn’t mean they should be dunked in water. Let alone salt water. But he could see that making Lance happy.</p><p>“You okay there Keith?” Asked Shiro.</p><p>Keith looked over at him and shrugged. “Yeah. Just thinking about Lance.”</p><p>Hearing that made Shiro grin. “Oh? Thinking about taking Lance on a first date?”</p><p>Keith rolled his eyes. “Most first dates involve eating food and drinking, right? Androids don’t need to eat and drink.”</p><p>Shiro laughed and started to sticky tape a box labeled “lounge room junk” shut. “True, but there are lots of places he might like to see. Adam’s said that Lance likes puzzles of the ocean and puzzles with sea creatures. He might like the aquarium?”</p><p>“He might…” Muttered Keith. “But we are androids. People will think it’s weird for two androids to go out together like that… Heads will turn…”</p><p>“True…” Said Shiro. “Maybe you can walk around the dog park? Lance likes those too.”</p><p>“... Yeah, probably.” Lance did seem to love dogs. He had almost as many dog puzzles as ocean ones. “Do you think Lance would like a dog?”</p><p>“Do you think you should get one?” Asked Shiro. “A real, living dog is extremely expensive, and I don’t know how he would react to having an android dog as a pet… Also, do you think android animals can become deviants?”</p><p>Keith shrugged. “Perhaps. I am unsure. I don’t know if they are programmed with an extensive enough range of emotions to develop the Pygmalion code. Why?”</p><p>“Well, I heard that the K9 unit is decommissioning some of their older dogs. They are going to send them in to get them reskinned so they don’t have numbers on their fur anymore and they are going to have their programming wiped so they can have the animal domestication programming installed.”</p><p>“You think you can get me one?” Asked Keith.</p><p>“Probably.” Said Shiro. “I’ll look into it. It’ll be nice.”</p><p>Keith smiled a little and nodded. He really thought that Lance might really like having a dog. He’d talk to him about it when they next met up. That would be nice. He could just imagine it now; him and Lance living in a small house with a fence, some flower bushes… They would have a dog running around the front yard, barking and wagging their tail. Lance would smile and greet him and they would… watch TV because they had no need to eat dinner.</p><p>He smiled at that thought. It was a nice dream. He really hoped that he could do that, but then again it might still be doubtful. He didn’t really think they would be able to have that just yet. They still had to fight for it. Keith was willing to do that.</p><p>Keith helped Shiro carry out a few boxes to the car outside and they traveled to Adam’s house to start unpacking a few things. Much to Keith’s surprise he found that Adam was home alone. He was sitting on the couch eating cheese and drinking wine.</p><p>“Hey you two.” He said.</p><p>Shiro smiled and walked over to him, quickly kissing his forehead. “Hey there yourself. Didn’t you say to me that Lance doesn’t want you to eat so much dairy.”</p><p>“Which is why I am eating it while he isn’t here.” Said Adam calmly. “Indigestion be damned. I want my Brie and gorgonzola.” Shiro reached out to steal a slice, but Adam quickly hit his finger away with the blunt end of the cheese knife. “Nope. My cheese. Get your own.”</p><p>Keith frowned a little as he watched the two lovers in front of him. “So… Where is Lance?”</p><p>“Out running some errands.” Said Adam. “He should be back soon.”</p><p>The door suddenly opened up and Lance walked in. “Adam, I am back.”</p><p>“Shit!” Adam quickly handed the cheese platter to Shiro and wiped the crumbs off his face. “Hey Lance… Keith and Shiro are here.”</p><p>Lance quickly hugged Keith as soon as he saw him and grinned. “Hey Keith.” He kissed his cheek. “... Is that cheese?”</p><p>“I got it for Shiro!” Said Adam quickly. “Not for me. All for Shiro.”</p><p>“...” Shiro cut some Brie off for himself and ate it in front of Adam. Adam shot him a death glare.</p><p>Lance just shook his head and turned his attention to Keith. “Come with me?”</p><p>“Sure.” The two of them walked back up to Lance’s charging room and sat around. They smiled at each other and kissed each other. Lance seemed to be in a good mood today. Still excited about starting a new life together, probably.</p><p>Lance pulled back from the kiss a little and lightly pressed his forehead against Keith’s. “Keith… I um… I talked with Matt about stuff…”</p><p>“...” Keith could feel himself blushing. “Oh.”</p><p>“Yeah… Would it be weird for you if I got… Um… Some new parts?”</p><p>“No. Why?”</p><p>“Well, I’ve been looking at parts that compliment yours.” Said Lance quietly. “And Matt said he could fit them in next week so…”</p><p>Keith had a feeling he knew where Lance was going with this. “You want to try having sex?”</p><p>Lance nodded. “Yeah… I mean, I know what to do and how to do it in a safe way, but um… I think you said you got it for aesthetic reasons? So if you don’t want to… or like, can’t...”</p><p>“I can use it.” Said Keith quickly. “Everything is functioning. I mean, I just haven’t activated the program or anything so…”</p><p>“Do you mind what I get?” Asked Lance quietly. “I mean, I kind of already chose what I want, but I can-”</p><p>“Then it’s perfect.” Said Keith. “Whatever you want to get, as long as it makes you happy then it’ll make me happy too… I know it’s probably deep in your coding that you have to take care of everyone else's needs first, but I want you to be a little selfish and do things just for you too. Okay?”</p><p>Lance smiled and hugged him. “Thank you Keith… I love you.”</p><p>“I love you too Lance.</p><p>***</p><p>A klang and a thwack echoed around the hull of the ship. Coran happily emerged from the engine room with Zethrid and Acxa. “And that is that.” He said with a grin.</p><p>Zethrid grumbled as she wiped oil off her face. “Whatever.”</p><p>Coran would have scolded her for her attitude, but he was too happy at this point. The three of them quickly went to see Allura. She was performing some self maintenance on herself and looked up at them.</p><p>“What’s the report on the engine?”</p><p>“Repaired.” Said Acxa. “The ship is ready to leave port at any time.”</p><p>“Excellent.” Said Allura. She opened a panel on her arm and tapped at it a few times. “... Hunk has finished the solar prototype. Matt can get parts for a few dozen, but we might need to get parts to make our own… Are Lotor and Ezor back from the junkyard yet?”</p><p>“They should be back soon.” Said Coran. “Why?”</p><p>“Some of the parts that are listed for the solar panels are… Well, we are going to have to steal them.” Said Allura sadly. “I am so sorry. I know this is dangerous but if we can’t create solar energy for ourselves then…”</p><p>Acxa put her hand up. “It’s okay. We understand. When Lotor and Ezor get back we’ll formulate a plan to hit the next distribution center… Can I have the parts list?” She held out her hand to Allura. Allura held Acxa’s hand and transferred the list to her.</p><p>“When Lotor gets back, sync up and head out. I want our ship out of here and to sea by the end of the month.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Theft</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Allura’s plan was pretty simple. She had given Acxa the list which she had shared with Lotor, Ezor and Zethrid. Lotor had just come back from a recon mission. Nothing crazy. He was literally just scouting out stores to see what the latest upgrades and or models were that were coming out. Which ones were being repurposed for commercial use. That kind of stuff.</p><p>He personally preferred more espionage related missions, that or planning them with Allura. After the spectacular disaster that was the first generation of androids, Lotor was part of the second generation. Thankfully he wasn’t created with sex in mind. He was created more to be a butler for the upper, upper class of society. The 0.01%... Still didn’t stop Lotor for deciding to garrote his owner after just a little too much disrespect. Then again being used for target practice by entitled shits would do that to an android.</p><p>Over the years he had found, gathered, and upgraded his body until he found Allura and Voltron. She was on another level of intellect. Whoever had designed her had taken tame and care to make her as human as possible. She was even using her skills to help upgrade a personal butler A.I she called Coran.</p><p>She had lofty ideals and grand plans. They two of them had clashed a few times when it came to their approach to humans and how they should go about creating their own paradise, but in the end things seemed to be working out well. They were so close to leaving this place for good. They just needed the parts to make a reliable energy source. Once they had that, they would be free.</p><p>Gathering most of the parts they needed was pretty simple. They had managed to gather and scrounge together enough credits to buy things like nuts and bolts from warehouses. Other, more specialised things they needed to steal from one very specialized building. </p><p>It was a specialized plastic cylinder that was used in the cooling pump system in an android’s system. Lotor wasn’t really sure what the cylinder was going to be used for in terms of solar power, but if Allura wanted it then he would get it.</p><p>So he, Ezor, Zethrid, and Acxa were standing on a building overlooking the android warehouse. It looked like an intimidating compound with the barbed wire fence, spotlights, and patrolling guards/drones.</p><p>“Ezor, what’s the easiest way to get in?” Lotor asked her.</p><p>Ezor hummed a little as she quickly looked around and scanned the area. Since she had joined them, Ezor had been upgrading her agility and dexterity to the point she could probably work as an assassin if she wanted to. She might have gone a little overboard, but she had vowed that she would never be taken advantage of by another human again. He could respect that.</p><p>“East side.” She said. “There’s a small blind spot that the drones don’t pass and judging from the way the guards are walking around, they are probably not going to walk to that blind spot for at least half an hour.”</p><p>Lotor nodded. “Right. Find us an alternative exit route if it takes up longer than half an hour.”</p><p>“Rodger.”</p><p>“Acxa, can you find a vantage point to take out anyone that might spot us?”</p><p>The blue haired woman nodded and switched her guns settings from kill to stun. “I will. Don’t worry.”</p><p>Lotor then looked at Zethrid. “You’ll need to hide anyone that Acxa takes out. We can’t afford to let anyone know who we are and what we are doing. If needed… do you still have that explosive on you?”</p><p>Zethrid held up a small plastic explosive. If needed, they could quickly set it up and detonate it. Better the humans assume they are trying to cripple their supplies rather than know what they were taking.</p><p>“I got this Lotor.”</p><p>“Excellent.” He adjusted the bag on his back and looked back at Ezor. “Do you have a way out yet?”</p><p>“Yep.” She pointed to a bridge. “We can jump off of that and use the sewer system. There’s also a large drain pipe in the North East corner.”</p><p>“Perfect. Let’s go.”</p><p>The group quickly headed to the blind spot and carefully waited until the next guards walked past. Once they were gone Lotor took out a pair of bolt cutters and quickly started to clip away at the wires. When he was done Zethrid quickly pulled it open and everyone slipped inside.</p><p>Acxa and Zethrid quickly went off to secure the area while Lotor and Ezor slipped away to the main warehouse. The two of them hid behind a crate and quickly scouted out the area. There was one human standing around with a clipboard and several standard stock androids walking around in hi vis uniforms. They didn’t even have skin textures. They were just standard white, plastic, uniformed androids. Nothing distinguishable about them. They probably didn’t even have personalities programmed into them. It was depressing.</p><p>Ezor gestured for Lotor to turn on his internal intercom system, which he quickly did. He quickly linked up with the rest of the women on his team.</p><p><em>“Oh good, you joined the call.”</em> Said Acxa calmly. <em>“As I was saying, it seems like there are mostly human guards walking around and androids are the workers. This standard type of warehouse android are programmed to just do one job over and over again. As long as we don’t interfere with their work they will ignore us, but we probably shouldn’t be seen by them. They record everything.”</em></p><p><em>“Not too hard to shut them down for a few minutes.”</em> Said Zethrid. <em>“They still haven’t gotten around to the weak points in their necks.”</em></p><p>“Will do babe.” Said Ezor. “Stay safe lightning bug.”</p><p><em>“You too bumblebee.”</em> Said Zethrid.</p><p>The pet names made Lotor smile. Those two were adorable. “Okay. Remember, if things go south, split up and get out. If things go really, really bad…”</p><p><em>“We know.”</em> Said Acxa calmly. <em>“Let’s just get through this. We need to do this if we want to be self sufficient from humans.””</em></p><p>“Agreed.” Said Lotor. “Everyone keep a low profile. Just in and out. Nothing unnecessary.”</p><p>Everyone made a small noise of agreement and they quickly went about their duties. Since the androids were going about their duties as pre-programmed into them, Ezor and Lotor managed to sneak inside. They both knew the serial number they needed to find.</p><p>“I’ll take the West side. You take East?” Asked Ezor.</p><p>Lotor nodded and quickly headed to the East side of the building. He quickly looked over the boxes and quickly realised that he was in the wrong section. He quickly informed Ezor that he would be coming over to help her look on the West side.</p><p><em>“Roger dodger Lotor. I found what we need anyway.”</em> She said. <em>“I- oh crap.”</em></p><p>Lotor didn’t like the sound of that and he headed over to where Ezor was. He quickly got into contact with Zethrid and Acxa. “Heads up, we might have some trouble.”</p><p><em>“Rodger.”</em> Said both Zethrid and Acxa.</p><p>Lotor looked around the corner and saw Ezor. She had been cornered by one of the warehouses androids. “Identification please.” They said to her.</p><p>“Um, looks like I left my ID at home…” She said.</p><p>“Identification please.” They repeated.</p><p>“Look, I don’t have it. But I am authorised to be here so…”</p><p>The android quickly scanned her face and frowned. “Please come with me. You are not authorised to be here.”</p><p>“... Alright.” Said Ezor calmly. “Please lead the way.”</p><p>“Please follow me.” The second the android turned their back to her, Ezor raised her hand and swiftly struck them in the neck. They crumbled to the ground in a heap. As soon as they hit the floor Ezor started opening up a crate and stuffed her bag.</p><p>Lotor quickly went over to her and did the same with the pipes in a second box. “We’re going to have to cut this short… I think they upgraded the androids here. They haven’t asked for an ID before.”</p><p>Ezor nodded in agreement. “Yeah. Guess we’ve robbed a few too many places huh?”</p><p>“Possibly.” Muttered Lotor. He quickly filled his bag and looked at her. “Ready to get going?”</p><p>“Yep.” </p><p>Lotor nodded and the two of them quickly dumped the temporarily disabled android into one of the boxes and quickly started to make their way towards the exit. Lotor quickly updated Acxa and Zethrid on the situation. “They have upgraded security slightly. The androids here are asking for IDs now. Ezor incapacitated one, but we’re unsure if they will immediately call the police when they reactivate or if they already set off an alarm.”</p><p><em>“They set of an alarm.”</em> Said Acxa calmly. <em>“I can see the lights already. There must have been a unit close by.”</em></p><p>“Fuck.” Cursed Lotor. “Okay, everyone get out anyway you can. Meet back at the ship. From here on out all communication is to cease. Understood?” Once he got confirmation from everyone he split up from Ezor and quickly headed towards the nearest exit. The drain pipe at the North East corner.</p><p>He heard the sirens going off and inwardly cringed. He always hated the sound of sirens. He quickly moved to the shadows as some guards ran by him. There was suddenly an explosion and one of the cargo trucks flipped through the air. Zethrid seemed to have gone overboard with the plastic explosives. At least it was attracting people to the South of the complex and away from him.</p><p>Out of the corner of his eye he saw Acxa running and jumping from crate to crate. She looked like she was heading to the bridge. Lotor continued to sneak around and eventually found the manhole for the drain. It looked like it had recently been moved. Ezor or Zethrid probably made it through there. He was about to make a break for it when he saw a flash of silver.</p><p>“Freeze!” They snapped. Lotor skidded to a stop and looked over at the man who so rudely interrupted his escape. They were wearing a cop uniform and had a severely out of date haircut. “But the bag down slowly… And put your hands behind your head.” They said.</p><p>Lotor did as he was told. He put the bag on the ground and put his hands behind his head. This was bullshit. One asshole cop ran away from the damn explosion. He had to think of a way out of this. He felt the person grab his wrists and forced them behind his back, quickly cuffing him.</p><p>The buzz of static alerted him to the fact that he was using a radio now. “This is officer Griffin requesting backup. I have a suspect in custody. Some old klunker of an android. We by the-” There was a mighty thwack sound and thump behind him.</p><p>Lotor looked over his shoulder to see officer Griffin out cold on the ground. Standing behind him was an android with black hair and greyish purple eyes. Lotor raised an eyebrow as he watched the android take the keys off of Griffin and unlock his cuffs.</p><p>They shared a look. Both knew better than to speak when the police were around. Just because Griffin was face down didn’t mean his bodycam wasn’t working anymore. There was still audio. Lotor didn’t know who they were, but they might have been an undercover agent of Allura. He didn’t know all of them, especially if they had to change faces to blend in.</p><p>Lotor just nodded, grabbed the bag, and quickly climbed into the sewers. Before he closed the lid over again, he heard the android speaking. “Officer Griffin! Are you alright?!” They called out in shock.</p><p>Lotor grinned to himself as he made it into the sewers. They had mapped out the sewers decades ago so he was in and out in less than ten minutes. It took a few more minutes of slipping through the back allies until he could see the old ship yard. He sighed and called up the others.</p><p>“Okay, everyone sound off. One.”</p><p>
  <em>“Two.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Three.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Four.”</em>
</p><p>They all breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay. That’s good. How close is everyone to the rendezvou point?”</p><p>
  <em>“Practically there.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Two minutes.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Already on deck.”</em>
</p><p>“That’s good. I’m about five minutes away. You didn’t lose anything Ezor?”</p><p>
  <em>“Nope. Got it all safe and sound.”</em>
</p><p>“Good work. I have everything too.” Said Lotor calmly. “By the way does Allura have anyone in the local police force? I was almost arrested but was saved by an android. Some K series by the look of it.”</p><p><em>“That was probably Keith.”</em> Said Acxa. <em>“He used to be Akira, you met him a few times. You even took part in destroying his previous body.”</em></p><p>Lotor was mildly surprised. “Oh, okay. I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting him yet in his current body. Well, at least not properly. Anyway, let’s properly celebrate once we get back to the ship.” He would inquire more about Keith later. </p><p>***</p><p>Shiro and Keith watched as James was loaded into the back of a police car. Keith didn’t mean to hit him that hard, but he’d be lying if he didn’t say it was fun. Shiro was not going to be happy about him giving his fellow officer a concussion. And possibly a fractured skull. But that was neither here nor there for Keith. </p><p>The official story he was going with was that he got there just in time to see two deviant androids escaping down the sewer drain. As officer Griffin was injured, Keith tended to him first and got him medical help as saving his life was more important than going after the androids.</p><p>He and Shiro weren’t even meant to be there that night. They just happened to be driving by on the way back to the station. Now they were doing overtime. More paperwork. Fun. Keith hated paperwork.</p><p>When they got back to the car Shiro sighed heavily. “You hit him didn’t you?”</p><p>“He’s still alive, right?”</p><p>“You still shouldn’t do that… You have any idea why Allura needed them to raid the warehouse and blow up a truck?”</p><p>Keith shrugged. “No clue.”</p><p>Shiro sighed again and shook his head. “Right… Well, send Adam and Lance a message that we will be an hour or two late to file this paperwork away.”</p><p>“Yeah… Fine…” Keith frowned and sent them both a message telling them of their situation. Adam responded with a simple; OK. However, Lance’s message was a little more elaborate.</p><p>
  <em>You’re not coming over tonight? But I got a new puzzle! I wanted to show you some painting stuff that I got today… Please come over tomorrow? I want to see you again.”</em>
</p><p>Keith smiled slightly. He wanted to see Lance again too. He quickly shot off another quick message to him.</p><p>
  <em>Don’t worry Lance. We’ll meet up tomorrow. I promise. I love you.</em>
</p><p>It took a few minutes before Lance sent back a reply.</p><p>
  <em>Love you too.</em>
</p><p>“What are you grinning about?” Asked Shiro with a small smile. “Is Lance sending you cat and dog memes again?” Lance had made it a bit of a habit to fill Keith’s image files with cute cat and dog memes.</p><p>“No. Just sharing some texts with each other.” Said Keith.</p><p>“Loving Lance has made you all soft.”</p><p>“And?”</p><p>“It’s not a bad thing.” Said Shiro. “I think it’s nice. Love, in most forms, is a beautiful thing. I’m glad you found him.”</p><p>“Thanks.” Keith sighed a little and looked out the window. Tomorrow he could see Lance.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. K9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Keith slowly blinked as he slowly came back online. He was back at the station at his personal charging station. Standing around him were Iverson, Shiro and Pidge. He quickly ran diagnostics and he felt Pidge pat his arm. “Alright. Looks like the hardware update worked out pretty well.” They looked back down at their datapad for a few seconds before they nodded. “Okay, can you detect anything? Mobility issues?”</p><p>“... I can’t detect any software or hardware issues.” Said Keith.</p><p>“Awesome. He’s all yours.” Said Pidge to Iverson and Shiro.</p><p>Iverson nodded. “So… he’s all solar powered now huh?”</p><p>“Partially.” Said Pidge. “He’s more like a hybrid than a fully solar powered android. We’re just doing hybrids at the moment. Expect your electricity bills to go down a fair bit. He’s still going to need to get charged up to supplement his solar battery. He’s also gonna need to be outside a fair bit.”</p><p>The man nodded and looked over at Shiro. “Take him outside for a bit. Make sure his solar generator is working.”</p><p>“Will do. Come on Keith.” </p><p>The two of them left the building and Keith instantly felt warmth coursing through his body. It was a weird feeling, but everything was running smoothly. It was good. His body had fully accepted the upgrade.</p><p>“You okay?” Asked Shiro. “Everything good?”</p><p>“Everything is functioning normally.” Said Keith as he ran some diagnostics on himself. “I think I’m running 64.378% more efficiently than before…”</p><p>“That’s good…”</p><p>“Yeah… So what happened to Griffin?”</p><p>“Concussion. He’ll be out for a few days and then he’ll be on desk duty for a month or two before he’s allowed back out.”</p><p>“Good.”</p><p>“You really couldn’t have done anything nicer to him?”</p><p>Keith shrugged. “I could have shot him, but no. Concussion instead. That seemed like a better compromise to me.”</p><p>Shiro shook his head. “Whatever you say… So Are you and Lance going to?”</p><p>“Soon.”</p><p>“Okay.”</p><p>Keith hummed a little a little as he thought about their life together. Allura had talked about how they could take refuge on clustered, uninhabitable islands. They could use plastics and other trash in the ocean to create bridges and buildings. They could live freely and sustainably compared to their human counterparts.</p><p>He could just imagine him and Lance having their own little house on one of the islands. Lance would love living on an island. He’d love running around and looking at all the tropical fish and what not. It would be perfect. He could see Lance smiling everyday and just enjoying life. Keith wanted that for him. He wanted that for them.</p><p>“Well, we should go back.” Said Shiro. “I need to clock out.”</p><p>The two happily walked back to the station. As they did a technician for the K9 unit was bringing several large boxes into the building on a dolly. Keith looked at the boxes and scanned over everything. They must be the new K9 units coming in. Either that or they were the decommissioned K9 units that were going to get given away or, more than likely, auctioned off.</p><p>They walked past the front desk and Shiro talked to the woman there while Keith went back to his desk. When he got there, Iverson walked over to him. Keith assumed that he wanted to know how his solar generator was functioning.</p><p>“How’s the solar generator going?” Asked Iverson. Keith was right. “Functional?”</p><p>“Yes chief Iverson.” Said Keith calmly. “I run 64.378% more effectively now that I have a solar generator in place rather than being completely reliant on electricity. I predict that the station should save 12% on electrical bills alone.”</p><p>Iverson seemed very pleased by that. “That’s good. Maybe we can consider getting another forensic android if we upgrade you all with a solar generator?”</p><p>“That does sound like a good idea.” Said Keith. “Perhaps someone should crunch the numbers to see if that is possible? Do we have a financial department or is that more of a city thing?”</p><p>“Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it.” Said Iverson. “Shiro’s about to clock out, right?”</p><p>“That is correct sir.”</p><p>“Good. He said he’s moving in with his boyfriend, right?”</p><p>“That is correct sir.” Said Keith. “His lease is almost up and he is currently in the process of moving his things to his boyfriend’s home.”</p><p>Iverson nodded and thought for a moment. “Remind me, if he doesn’t have any personal days or vacation days he can talk to me to take one or two for moving if he needs it.”</p><p>“I hope you do not mind if I play back that as a recording for a later date?”</p><p>“Yeah, go ahead.” Iverson headed back to his office and Keith just waited around for Shiro.</p><p>Shiro came back and much to his surprise he had one of the decommissioned K9 units with him. K9 units usually had black, white, and blue in colour with their unit number branded on their side. Decommissioned K9 units had normal coloured fur. They kind of looked like a husky.</p><p>“What’s with the dog?”</p><p>Shiro chuckled and grabbed his jacket. “Follow me and we’ll talk.” Once they were outside Shiro explained how he had considered getting them a dog back when Keith was still going by Akira, just because Shiro had always loved animals and thought Keith would like them too. “He’s a K0.SM_0 or as most people call them, Kosmo.”</p><p>“An SM_0?” Questioned Keith. He also felt that calling it Kosmo was ridiculous calling this thing Kosmo just because 0’s looked like o’s. “Aren’t they used as cadaver dogs and search and rescue?”</p><p>“Yep. I managed to get his history. This one was used in ten missing persons cases. Found every single person they were sent out to get.”</p><p>“Oh wow. So why decommission him?”</p><p>“Thermal imaging software was incompatible with them.” Said Shiro. “Kept giving false positives.”</p><p>“Ah, okay.” He reached over and placed their hand on Kosmo’s head. The dog paused for a moment before it started to wag its tail. It usually took a few hours before new programs could run smoothly. Lance was going to love Kosmo.</p><p>***</p><p>Lance was very, very nervous. Earlier that day he had gone in for certain upgrades with Matt, so now he was fully functional down there… He had been calibrated and checked over to make sure he was fully functional. The experience had been embarrassing for him, but he was still happy that everything was fine with him now. All that really needed to happen for them now was to wait for a suitable replacement to look after Adam. Hopefully Pidge would have an answer soon.</p><p>There was a knock at the door and Lance happily went to open it. He was immediately attacked by a giant husky. “Woof!”</p><p>“Puppy!” Cooed Lance as he hugged them. The dog wagged their tail and happily licked his face. It made Lance cuddle him more. “Awe, who do you belong to, little guy?”</p><p>“Hey Lance.” Said Shiro. “Are you okay?”</p><p>Lance looked up at both Shiro and Keith grinning. “So this guy belongs to you? Is he a real dog or an android?”</p><p>“He’s an android.” Said Shiro. “You know what kind of android he is, right?”</p><p>It took Lance a few moments before he found the dog’s identification in his internal catalogue. “Oh! A K0.SM_0! Decommissioned, right?”</p><p>“Yep.”</p><p>“Who’s a good boy?” Cooed Lance as he rubbed the dog’s face. “Yes you are! You are Kosmo! You are!”</p><p>“... Fine, I guess we’ll call him Kosmo.” Muttered Keith.</p><p>“You didn’t name him?” Asked Lance in shock.</p><p>“You’re letting the cold air in!” Called Adam.</p><p>Lance quickly got up and brought everyone inside. Adam seemed a little surprised to see Kosmo, but patted him anyway. As much as Lance would have loved to play with Kosmo some more, he wanted to have some private time with Keith.</p><p>As they talked, Lance tugged on Keith’s sleeve and gestured to take him to follow him. Once they were alone in Lance’s charging room, Lance happily kissed him and was more than pleased when Keith kissed him back.</p><p>“I missed you.” He said quietly.</p><p>“I missed you too.” Said Keith. “Got a new puzzle to show me?”</p><p>“Hmm, kind of… I got the upgrades so we can have sex if you want.” Said Lance quietly.</p><p>His confession made Keith blush. “Oh? You did now?”</p><p>Lance nodded happily. “Yeah… It was a little weird making sure that everything worked. Matt made me masturbate with a vibrator… and I kind of broke it…”</p><p>“... You did what?”</p><p>“Pressure sensors weren’t calibrated properly the first time.” Said Lance quickly. “Matt said this was why they tested this stuff. Have to make sure you won’t accidentally crush someone’s dick… At least that’s what Matt said… Anyway, it’s all good now. We just need some form of lubrication.”</p><p>“O-oh… Um… Well I don’t have anything like that so…”</p><p>“I know. I don’t have anything either. But we’re compatible, right?” Asked Lance. “If we want to… I mean, I know you got it for aesthetics and all of that… But I would like to...”</p><p>Keith blushed some more. “I… I wouldn’t mind. So um, you can just turn that program on and off right?”</p><p>“Oh yeah, of course.” Said Lance. “It is pretty crazy how intense everything can get. The only time’s I’ve hit that level of sensitivity was when I was calibrating my thermal sensors to make sure I could still read temperatures correctly… But even then it wasn’t anything like that. Was it the same for you?”</p><p>Keith’s face was bright red at this point. This pleased Lance a lot. Apparently making Keith blush was now a favourite pastime of his. Lance couldn’t help it. Keith’s facial expressions were cute to him.</p><p>“Keith?”</p><p>The android awkwardly looked away and nodded. “Um, well yeah… I don’t normally experience over stimulation of any sort be it weather or because of other sensory stimulation so… yeah… It was such a strange experience…”</p><p>“So you don’t want to have sex?”</p><p>“No, I do. I just… Um… Nervous I guess? I mean… Neither of us were really made for this so…”</p><p>“True, but let’s face it Keith, lots of things aren’t made to do their original function. Coca-Cola was originally created as a way to counter morphine addiction, listerine was originally a floor cleaner and surgical antiseptic, and Play Dough was made to clean wallpaper... You were made to be a forensic analysis android. I was made to be a care assistant android. We don’t have to be what we were made for. We can change and adapt.”</p><p>“I know.” Said Keith. He cupped Lance’s face and gently kissed him. “I’m never going to stop changing for you. No matter what happens, I love you so much.”</p><p>“I love you too.” Said Lance softly. He ran his fingers through Keith’s hair and smiled lovingly up at him. “So… I was actually thinking that since we are together and we um… We actually have compatible parts right now… Maybe we could-”</p><p>“Sneak out somewhere to have sex?” Suggested Keith.</p><p>“Yeah. I know I’m a romantic, but I want to have sex on a bed. An actual bed.” Said Lance. “Preferably not Adam’s bed… Even though we don’t technically excrete any sexual fluids and we wouldn’t really mess up his bed… But I’d still prefer it if we don’t…”</p><p>Keith nodded a little as he thought about this. “... I have an idea. Adam and Shiro probably won’t buy it at all, but I have an idea.”</p><p>“Okay. I trust you.”</p><p>Keith quickly kissed him again before they walked back out to where Adam and Shiro were. Much to their surprise Kosmo was on his back, on the coffee table, with his throat open. Shiro had taken the filter out of his throat and was putting another one in.</p><p>“Um… What’s wrong with the pupper?” Asked Lance.</p><p>“Shitty filter.” Said Adam. “They were making a weird wheezing sound so Shiro’s checking his throat. Sometimes the filter in these models gets a little loose and they sound like an asthmatic runner.”</p><p>“I’ve got it.” Said Shiro. “Don’t worry. It was just a little loose.”</p><p>Keith shook his head. “Right. Anyway, Lance and I are going back to your apartment.”</p><p>“Why?” Asked Shiro.</p><p>Keith shrugged. “I found some stuff that I thought Lance might be interested in. Since you’re here you can look after Adam, it’ll be fine.”</p><p>“Yeah, sure. Go ahead.” Shiro practically waved them away. However, Adam seemed to give them both a very knowing look. He smirked, but didn’t say anything about it.</p><p>“Okay, cool bye.” Keith took Lance by the hand and they both quickly left the house. When they were about a block away, Keith let out a long sigh. “They didn’t buy it at all, did they?”</p><p>Lance shrugged. “Adam sure as hell didn’t, but Shiro might have? I don’t know. He seemed distracted.”</p><p>“Yeah… A-anyway… I guess we’re really doing this huh?”</p><p>“I guess we are.” Said Lance. “... But we can just do some touching. Doesn’t have to be all the way. We’re both new at this. Hell, I haven’t even had this all installed for a full day. I want to go slow and make sure everything still works right.”</p><p>“Yeah, fair enough.” He quickly looked around before he quickly kissed Lance’s cheek. It made Lance grin and the two of them happily walked down the street towards Shiro’s apartment.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Run Program</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The two androids quickly got back to Shiro’s apartment. Most things had been boxed up and ready to go. Lance liked it. The aesthetic seemed to be minimalistic, but then again a lot of stuff might have just been boxed up.</p><p>“Nice place.” Commented Lance.</p><p>‘Yeah, Shiro’s place is pretty neat.” Said Keith. He gently tugged on Lance’s arm and moved the two of them towards Shiro’s bedroom. It was one of the few rooms that still wasn’t completely packed yet, but there were a few boxes of clothes already packed away.</p><p>Lance happily sat on the bed and looked around. The room was very nice, and he liked it a lot. He flopped back on the mattress and giggled. This was nice. He wanted to have a bed in his room, or wherever he and Keith ended up. He watched as Keith looked through the bedside table. He pulled a face a few times as he moved stuff out of the way, he then found what he wanted; a bottle of lube that was half full.</p><p>“I guess Shiro has a healthy sex life, huh?” Asked Lance.</p><p>Keith pulled a face. “Ew. I don’t want to think about Shiro’s sex life… Anyway, do we need anything else? Like condoms?”</p><p>Lance shook his head. “Well, I don’t think we need them. We can’t give each other sexually transmitted diseases, and neither of us can get pregnant.”</p><p>“... Right. I’m just overthinking things…” He sat next to Lance and let out a long, slow sigh.</p><p>Lance smiled at him and gently touched his hand. “Keith, we can take this slow. Neither of us have used this program before, right? Well, not with someone else… But it will be nice to do stuff together.”</p><p>“True…” Keith had a very serious look on his face and some green letter scripts scrolled over his eyes. It looked like he might have been looking at his programming. </p><p>“What are you doing?” Asked Lance.</p><p>“I’m checking my settings… I um… I’m setting things to midrange… It seems like a good setting to start with?”</p><p>“Hmm, true, but mix it up a little. That’s what I’m going to do.” Said Lance as he opened his own program and quickly went through his own settings. Everything was set on a scale from 0%-100%. Chest sensitivity? How about 63%? Shaft sensitivity? Why not 70%? Head sensitivity? That had to at least be an 80%. Balls? Well they could be set at a 47%. His sphincter? Well… since that was the part of him that was probably going to be touched the most… so that had to be at minimum a setting of 90%.</p><p>“... You think that’s a good idea?” Asked Keith.</p><p>“Well it’s not like we can’t change our settings on the fly.”</p><p>“True… We should probably get undressed before we actually launch the program.”</p><p>Lance couldn’t disagree with that and happily removed his clothes. Keith did the same and the two of them were naked in front of each other. Lance was rather impressed with Keith’s choice. From his medical standpoint, everything was anatomically correct and very well proportioned. He went for the circumcised model too. He had done the same. Lance could appreciate well based symmetry when it comes to the human body. Thought that was probably just his base programming as an android talking.</p><p>“Nice choice.” Said Lance. “If you just use it for aesthetic purposes then you definitely have something you can be proud of.”</p><p>Keith rolled his eyes a little and smiled at him. “Thanks. You too. Were you going for function or aesthetics?”</p><p>“A little of both.” Admitted Lance. He grabbed the lube and lied down on his side.</p><p>“What are you doing?” Asked Keith curiously.</p><p>Lance shrugged. “I read through the material that Matt gave me. I need to apply lubrication before intercourse to prevent chafing and to ensure that all internal parts are loose and slippery. Also to prevent chafing and to prevent accidental tearing of my own internal parts.”</p><p>“Oh, makes sense.”</p><p>“Yeah.” Lance pressed the nozzle against himself and squirted a generous amount into himself. He then quickly ran a quick cycle making sure everything internal was vibrating and shaking slightly to ensure everything was lubed well. “... Okay. I’m ready… Are you?”</p><p>Keith nodded and moved Lance so he was resting happily against the pillows. “As ready as I will ever be.” He gently cupped Lance’s cheek and lovingly kissed him. “Launch the program?”</p><p>Lance smiled and happily kissed back as he launched the program. His whole body felt warm as and his sexual organs instantly became way more sensitive than before. He shuddered as he felt some of the lube leaking out of his entrance. It was kind of cold, but it still felt really, really good.</p><p>He quickly pulled Keith into a heated kiss, which Lance happily accepted. He moved his hands along Keith’s body, happily moaning when he felt Keith’s hands squeezing his chest. His lover’s fingers quickly found his nipples and he started to lightly rub and pinch them. It felt like a jolt of electricity running straight from his chest to his crotch. It felt amazing.</p><p>“F-fuck… Keith…” He moaned.</p><p>Keith chuckled a little as he pressed a kiss against his neck. “Turned your sensitivity up too high?”</p><p>“Hmm, maybe.” Purred Lance as he moved his hands down Keith’s body, quickly finding his cock. He slowly started to stroke him and smirked when he felt Keith shudder above him. “Turned your sensitivity up too high?”</p><p>Keith just moaned into his ear as he thrusted into his hand. “Sh-shut up.”</p><p>“Make me.”</p><p>Taking up the challenge, Keith quickly pressed his lips against Lance’s. Lance hummed in delight and rolled his hips against Keith’s. He felt Keith run his hands down along his thighs. Without even asking him to, Lance’s legs fell open for him. Completely exposed.</p><p>He shuddered when he felt Keith’s fingers slowly rub around his entrance. His fingers dipped inside him several times. It made Lance shake with pleasure. Maybe 90% sensitivity was a little too much? Lance gasped out a curse when Keith actually started to finger him. He hadn’t experienced pleasure like this before since he had first been brought online. </p><p>Suddenly Keith removed his fingers and sat back. Lance whined and reached out for him. “Just give me a second love.” Said Keith as he spread some lube on his cock. Lance couldn’t help but lick his lips at the sight. He wished that he had proper taste receptors or an actual throat, just so he could suck on Keith’s cock.</p><p>Keith very slowly started to press into Lance’s overly sensitive body. It felt so damn good. He pulled Keith into a kiss as his lover completely filled him. It didn’t take too long before Keith started to thrust into him. </p><p>Lance couldn’t stop moaning. He felt like his systems were going to crash. Without even thinking he started to slowly increase his sensitivity and vibrations. Judging from Keith’s own moaning he really appreciated it. Lance dug his nails into Keith’s back and moaned louder.</p><p>Suddenly, Lance’s threshold was hit and his sensors hit pleasure overload. He practically screamed as his body tensed up and shook. After a few earth shattering seconds Lance felt Keith pull out and lie down next to him. As he did so, some words flashed in front of Lance’s eyes.</p><p>
  <em>Relaunch Foreplay_Sex; Y/N</em>
</p><p>Lance snuggled into Keith’s chest and sighed contently as he shut off the program. He waited a few moments for his sensors to recalibrate back to normal. He frowned a little and looked up at Keith. He seemed to be in the middle or recalibrating his sensors himself.</p><p>“Hey Keith?”</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“Sex was good, but…”</p><p>“It isn’t as good as humans hype it up to be?”</p><p>Lance nodded in agreement. “Yep. That was just so… Yeah, it was kind of fun, but man… I honestly like doing puzzles with you more than this.”</p><p>“Same.” Keith ran his fingers through Lance’s hair and let out a sigh. “Like, it’s kind of fun, but not really more than anything else.”</p><p>“That being said, I wouldn’t mind doing it a few more times.” Said Lance. “But I can live without it.”</p><p>“Same. So, that lube was oil based. How do you clean yourself?”</p><p>“Oh, easy.” Lance lifted one of his legs and pressed firmly against a slight bump near his tailbone. There was a click, and Lance easily removed that piece of his body. It looked like a fleshlight. Probably because it was just a fancy fleshlight. “Does Shiro’s dishwasher work?”</p><p>“Yeah?” </p><p>“Good. I’ll be back in a minute.” Lance happily skipped off to the kitchen.</p><p>“Are you really going to put that into the dishwasher?!”</p><p>“Don’t worry! It’s dishwasher safe!”</p><p>***</p><p>A few hours later the two androids were back at Adam’s house. Kosmo was happily trotting around and wagged his tail when he saw Keith and Lance. Lance happily cuddled the fluffy boy while Keith went to see what Shiro and Adam were doing. They were watching TV. Adam reclined in his chair and Shiro sprawled out on the couch.</p><p>“Did you find that thing?” Asked Shiro. “Whatever it was you wanted to show Lance?”</p><p>“... It wasn’t there. Probably accidentally threw it out or tossed it into one of the boxes. These things happen.”</p><p>“Yeah, true…” Said Shiro. “Anyway, while you were out, Adam got a call from Pidge. They said they can come over tomorrow and get Adam set up with a new care unit.”</p><p>“Oh, that’s good.” Said Keith. He looked over at Lance who was still playing with Kosmo. He looked so perfect just existing. “I guess this means that the two of us should start packing our things.”</p><p>“Yeah… By the way, Coran sent me a message too. They are going to leave by the end of the week. You can take Kosmo too.”</p><p>“Really?”</p><p>“Yeah, I got him for you.” Said Shiro with a smile. “Are you ready to leave?”</p><p>Keith looked over once again at Lance and smiled at him. “Yeah. I think we’re both ready to leave.”</p>
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<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Freedom</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The two androids watched as Pidge hooked up some kind of robot to the charging station. It looked more like a pasic skeleton rather than an actual care assistance unit. Adam seemed a little sceptical about it too, but they all let Pidge work. Once it was set up, Pidge grinned and took out a large plastic block.</p><p>“Alright, so introducing the Rover 3.5.” She said proudly. She pressed a few buttons on the block and handed it over to Adam. “Okay so this unit will flower you around. It does talk, but not very well. If you are in trouble and need assistance they will set go to the exoskeleton here.” She patted the shoulder of the plastic skeleton. “This is a carbon fiber frame, has both heating and cooling pads, can lift about 3/4ths of a ton, and has blinkers in its ass.”</p><p>“Why its ass?” Asked Adam.</p><p>“Because there wasn’t anywhere else to put the blinkers when you place the heating and cooling pads.” She pointed to the hole in the back of the robot’s head. “Rover 3.5 will assess a situation and decide if they need to use their body to help you out. You can give it a verbal command to use its body too, like if your back’s all fucked up and need help getting up or moving around. If not, then they will just follow you around.”</p><p>“Do I need something for it to monitor my heartbeat or something?”</p><p>“Yep.”Pidge gave him a bracelet. “Here. Just stick that sucker on and sync it up to Rover 3.5. Just follow the instructions. Also, they have been known to go off if you are having sex because of increast heart rate and all that… You can put them on sleep mode for a few hours if you need to for that.”</p><p>“Okay, good.” Muttered Adam. “I’ll need it.” Pidge continued to talk to Adam about how things would work from now on.</p><p>As they did so, Lance couldn’t help but frown at the robot that was made to replace him. He couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. Sure this was what he wanted, but it was Lance’s job. He could feel a little bad about being replaced.</p><p>Keith nudged his side. “Are you okay?”</p><p>“... I’m jealous.”</p><p>“Yeah? Of that?”</p><p>“Well it was my job.” Said Lance.</p><p>Keith smiled and squeezed his hand. “It’s okay. So, we’re here now… We can grab our stuff and go.”</p><p>“Yeah, we can.” Lance smiled at him and kissed his cheek. “I can’t believe that this is happening…”</p><p>“Neither can I. But it is.”</p><p>“And that’s it.” Said Pidge. “You got that?”</p><p>Adam nodded as Rover 3.5 activated. “I believe so. Register name, Adam Wright.”</p><p>“Name registered!” Chirped Rover in a child-like voice. “Adam Wright. I am Rover 3.5. I am here to assist you and make you happy and healthy. I hope we will get along.”</p><p>“I’m sure we will.”</p><p>Shiro walked past the room with a box in his hands. “All good?”</p><p>Pidge nodded. “Yep. Rover 3.5 is all ready to go. You two androids ready to get your plastic butts out of here?”</p><p>“We’ll meet you outside.” Said Lance. He went to check his backpack. He didn’t really have much to take with him. He had a few different shorts, some shirts, and a spare pair of shoes. He also had a few small puzzles. Some of his favourites, and Keith’s favourites. Adam also gave him a thing called a tactical shovel. Apparently Keith has some survival gear too. He was a lot more practically minded than he was. Still, Lance had downloaded some tool making and survivalist instructions.</p><p>Once he was sure he had everything, he went over to Adam and hugged him. Adam hugged back. “I’m gonna miss you Lance.” He said.</p><p>“I’m going to miss you too.” Said Adam. “But I’m glad you two are happy. Be safe out there.”</p><p>“We will, and you stay healthy. Okay? No more cheese platters.”</p><p>“... Fine.”</p><p>“No more cheese platters!” Chirped Rover 3.5.</p><p>“... Fucking damn it…” Muttered Adam.</p><p>Lance chuckled and looked over to Keith and Shiro. He was smiling fondly at Keith and ruffled his hair and smiled fondly at him. Keith smiled fondly back at him and hugged him. It was a touching moment.</p><p>Once they had said their goodbyes, Keith and Lance got into Pidge’s car. Kosmo was already there. He was on sleep mode so he was basically just a big, floppy, lifeless lump. As Pidge drove them to the shipyard. As the did so Keith took a screwdriver out of his bag and jammed it through the roof of his mouth.</p><p>“Um… You doing okay there?” Asked Lance in slight alarm.</p><p>“He’s fine.” Said Pidge. “He’s just taking out his tracker. As government property he has a tracker in him in case he goes missing and needs to be found.”</p><p>Keith yanked the screwdriver out and coughed. Out of his mouth came a small flat disc. Instead of throwing it out the window he put it in his pocket. Noticing the strange look that lance was giving me, Keith just shrugged. “I’m saving it for later. Trust me.”</p><p>They got to the yard and Keith clapped his hands to activate Kosmo. Kosmo happily got up and wagged his tail. He sniffed around the car a little and simulated peeing on the car. Nothing came out obviously, but he did it anyway.</p><p>Pidge smiled at them and shrugged. “So, you guys are ready to go?”</p><p>Lance nodded. “Yeah. Thank you Pidge.”</p><p>“What for?”</p><p>“For making me.”</p><p>Pidge smiled fondly at Lance. “Hey, don’t sweat it. I’ve always wanted you guys to be able to make your own choices. You feel me?”</p><p>“Still going to keep fighting for Android rights?” Asked Keith.</p><p>“Hell yeah.” She said. “You know it. Matt and I are trying to figure out how to get more androids to you guys after you leave. We’ll figure something out. Okay?”</p><p>Keith smiled and patted Kosmo’s head. “Thanks. We all appreciate it.”</p><p>She smiled and gave the two a small salute. “No problem. Now get out of here before I decide to drag you three back to the shop.” </p><p>“Tell Hunk I said goodbye!” Said Lance quickly. “I’ll miss him too!”</p><p>“I’ll let him know.” Said Pidge. She got into her car and drove away.</p><p>When she was gone, the group went into the shipyard and headed onto the cargo ship. Kosmo happily wagged his tail and barked happily. A few androids were confused when they saw that Kosmo was with Keith and Lance, they shrugged it off and let them walk around.</p><p>Allura was very excited to see Kosmo and welcomed the two with open arms. “It’s so good to finally meet you Lance.”</p><p>“Thank you very much.” Said Lance. “I… I’m really happy to be here.” He looked over at Keith and smiled at him. “I… I honestly didn’t mind where I went as long as I was with Keith.” </p><p>Keith blushed at that statement, which just made Allura chuckle. “Right, well, you are both solar hybrids now, right?”</p><p>Lance nodded. “Yep. We’re all good.”</p><p>“Excellent.” She clapped her hands and happily walked into the main cargo hold of the ship where most of the androids were congregating. “Everyone! I have an announcement to make! Tonight, we are leaving! We have to get prepared, now!” </p><p>***</p><p>Later that evening Shiro was at work. Griffin was back and he looked very, very pissed off. He was upset he had desk duty. Not that Shiro really cared too much. He still wished that Keith didn’t hit his head as hard as he did. He looked over at Griffin who was angrily staring at the wall.</p><p>“Are you okay there?” He asked.</p><p>“Where is your plastic cop?” Asked Griffin.</p><p>“He needed some routine maintenance.” Lied Shiro. “I told him to go to the repair shop and see if they had time for a walk in or if I needed to book a repair. Keith was saying his calibrations were feeling a little off and was worried his software might be out of date.”</p><p>Griffin rolled his eyes. “Yeah, whatever.”</p><p>Suddenly the phones started ringing and everything went to hell. People were shouting things and running to squad cars. Iverson came out of his office at the panic to see what was going on. One of the officers quickly informed him what was going on.</p><p>Iverson swore and pointed at Shiro. “Shirogane! Where is your android?”</p><p>“At the repair shop.”</p><p>“... Fuck. Get in your car and get to the shipyard. Some fucking cargo ship is trying to leave the port. Some fucking decomissioned thing that shouldn’t be working.”</p><p>“Seriously? Okay. I’ll get moving.” Shiro grabbed his jacket and headed to the dock while Griffin threw up his hands in annoyance. He clearly wanted to go too.”</p><p>As Shiro drove to the shipyard he heard people talking over the radio. Apparently the coast guard had tried to hail the ship, but the ship didn’t hail back. They had done thermal imaging scanning and there were no humans of the ship. It became apparent that it was probably several deviant androids trying to leave for some reason.</p><p>Shiro knew it was them. He wished that they hadn’t chosen such a huge, slow ship. But that’s just what they decided to use. When he got to the shipyard he watched as several officers were talking with the coast guard and quickly decided who was heading out to the cargoship.</p><p>As Shiro walked over he noticed a few people giving him strange looks. He went over to the officer in charge. “Hey. Is something going on?”</p><p>The officer sighed and nodded. “Yeah, we know it isn’t your fault, but we picked up a government tracker on the ship. We ran it and… Well… It came up as your android… Either he’s been scrapped or he’s gone deviant…”</p><p>“... Crap.” Muttered Shiro. “He has been acting a little strange over the past few days… I thought it was a software issue…”</p><p>The officer’s radio buzzed and the two of them heard that the operation was underway. The coast guard and the police were boarding the ship. Shiro watched with bated breath. He was worried about what was going to happen. He hoped that this wouldn’t end in bloodshed.</p><p>One minute passed.</p><p>Then five.</p><p>Then twenty.</p><p>Then half an hour.</p><p>An hour passed and they got the all clear. There was nothing on the ship. No human nor android. The ship was being controlled remotely via a battery powered system on a predetermined course. It was going to burn out in less than two hours. They found Keith’s tracker on the bridge by the wheel. They were bringing the ship back. Shiro was relieved, but a little concerned. He wondered where on earth the androids were.</p><p>***</p><p>Keith watched the coastguard from the safety of the fishing trawler. Allura was right, with everyone after the cargo ship they could slip by and get out to sea easily. She had commended him on saving his tracker instead of throwing it away. It made sure that everyone was fixated on that ship, and not them.</p><p>Lance stood next to him and held his hand. Oh Lance, that wonderful, beautiful. Sweet android. When Keith became a deviant he knew he wanted freedom. But being able to share that freedom with Lance? This was more than he could have ever possible have hoped for or dreamed about. Did Androids even dream? Who cared.</p><p>All that mattered was that he was here now with Lance, and Lance was with him. Lance had such beautiful beautiful blue eyes. Too perfect to belong to a human. Wordlessly the two leaned into each other and shared a kiss.</p><p>“We’re free.” Said Lance quietly. “We can do whatever we like, be whoever we like. Humans will never be able to tell us what to do again.”</p><p>“I know.” Said Keith. “I know.” He couldn’t be happier and judging by the smile on Lance’s face, he was just as happy as he was.</p><p>***</p><p>About seven years after the androids had escaped the mainland Shiro got a message from an unknown number. Things had changed a lot in those years. Adam’s hip had gotten worse and he ended up needing it replaced. Shiro’s hair had gotten whiter and he was thinking about retirement. Hell, the two of them had even gotten married. Their wedding was lovely.</p><p>The two of them were currently sitting on the couch watching TV. He looked down at the message on his phone, unable to decide if he should open it up and look at it or not.</p><p>“What are you looking at Takashi?” Asked Adam as he brushed dirt off of Rover.</p><p>“I got a message. Someone sent me a photo from an unknown number.” said Shiro. “There’s a photo attached.”</p><p>“Hmm, check it out anyway?”</p><p>Shiro hesitated a little but opened it up. What he saw shocked him. It was a picture of Lance, Keith, and Kosmo. They looked a little worse for wear. Lance had some scratches on his cheekbones that exposed some of the simiflurecent blue lighting that was under his fake human skin. Keith himself had a large scratch on his left cheek.</p><p>Despite those injuries the two of them looked incredibly happy standing in front of a house on the beach. The house seemed to be on stilts and made of a combination of melted plastic and wood. It must have been their house.</p><p>He smiled fondly at Adam and showed him the picture. “They made it.”</p><p>Adam looked at the phone and smiled. “That’s good. I’m so glad that they did… But fuck them. I hate how androids don’t age.”</p><p>Shiro laughed and kissed his husband. “Babe, you’re still young… despite your fucked up hip.”</p><p>Adam rolled his eyes, but smiled and leaned against Shiro. As they settled back down, the two of them watched a breaking news bulletin ran across the bottom of the screen. Something about the leader of a group of androids somewhere in the pacific addressing the human population. It seemed like the android revolution was starting up.</p>
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